Some Came Running (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
So, you don't wanna talk about Spencer Tracy or James Brown? Okay, fine, be that way. I see now that the crew over at Time Out New York has posted its Top 50 Movies of the Aughts, so now's the...
The IFC Blog (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (which is, yes, fantastic) begins its platform release domestically two Fridays from now, but it's already out in the UK -- complete with a "Fantastic Mr. Fox Happy Meal" -- and the publicity mill is already grinding. One of the cooler interviews Anderson's done is with French director Arnaud Desplechin (recently ordained the future of cinema by...
Some Came Running (Free subscription) | 09/25/2009
The great Alain Resnais at the New York Film Festival press conference for his latest film, the mind-blowing Wild Grass. Alternating between French and English, the maestro held forth on the future of cinema (it involves Arnaud Desplechin), his favorite...
Fin de Cinema (Free subscription) | 09/18/2009
Nothing terribly exciting in the way of new DVD announcements, but here it is anyway. They are in descending order of release date. The Criterion date changes are below, with the only new items being Blu-rays of Gimme Shelter and A Christmas Tale . Also, a word to the (Blu-ray owning) wise: DVDTimes claims that the Studio Canal Blu-ray collection arriving on 28 September appear to not be Region B locked,...
High-Def Digest: All Hig (Free subscription) | 09/16/2009
The Criterion Collection says 'A Christmas Tale' is coming to Blu-ray in December. In Arnaud Desplechin’s beguiling 'A Christmas Tale' (Un conte de Noël), Catherine Deneuve brings her legendary poise...
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 09/03/2009
Toronto Film Fest News: Jacques Audiard's drama made waves at Cannes -- A risk taker and a meticulous filmmaker, Jacques Audiard took three years to make "A Prophet," a thriller that touches on sensitive subjects like immigration and race relations in France.
Hollywood Elsewhere (Free subscription) | 08/17/2009
Criterion's November schedule has been inspected and Steven Soderbergh 's two Che movies aren't on it so a December release is the earliest possibility. Criterion will put a Bluray version of Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah in November, but only standard DVDs of Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale and Michael Ritchie's Downhill Racer ('69) that month. The Downhill Racer disc "will feature a restored...
Fin de Cinema (Free subscription) | 08/15/2009
After cluing a release of Steven Soderbergh's Che in an earlier newsletter, it looks official that Criterion and IFC have struck a pack, announcing two IFC titles for November: Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale [ Un conte de Noël ] and Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah [ Gomorra ]. Surprisingly though, Gomorrah is the only Blu-ray release set for November. Also announced Michael Ritchie's Downhill...
Vinyl Is Heavy (Free subscription) | 07/20/2009
by Ryland Walker Knight —Scale me, mount of shale; here, that's how In A Lonely Place [Nick Ray, 1950] # More vicarious stuff, as I'm missing something grand again. I like how Steve described Bogie: "Mean X-rated expressions." Read Glenn and Hoberman , too, if you have yet to. Celine and Julie go boating [Jacques Rivette, 1974] # Because I can. Because those girls are good to dream...
The One-Line Review (Free subscription) | 07/17/2009
France Feature Film Original Title: Un conte de Noël Director: Arnaud Desplechin Writers: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Arnaud Desplechin Cinematographer: Eric Gautier Composer: Grégoire Hetzel Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Anne Consigny, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud, Hippolyte Girardot, Emmanuelle Devos, Chiara Mastroianni, Laurent Capelluto, Emile Berling Excellent performances...
Vinyl Is Heavy (Free subscription) | 07/05/2009
by Ryland Walker Knight [I hope to make this a weekly feature, for me as much as for you, since it seems I'm able to watch a lot more over here, and I'd like to track my thought a little better than simply within my moleskins since, in theory, among other things, the internet is forever. And I don't want to use Twitter for this for some reason. I must say: watching all these, that is being this indulgent,...
The One-Line Review Presents (Free subscription) | 06/30/2009
Answering Cinema Steve Rybin is a film scholar and writer living in Atlanta , Georgia . He is the author of The Cinema of Michael Mann and a forthcoming volume on the films of Nicholas Ray. The Apartment (1960) _Billy Wilder L'Atalante (1934) _Jean Vigo Barry Lyndon (1975) _Stanley Kubrick Bonjour Tristesse (1958) _Otto Preminger California Split (1974) _Robert Altman Céline and Julie Go Boating...
The Independent (Free subscription) | 06/28/2009
Arnaud Desplechin's yuletide drama might not feel like timely viewing, but its original French release date in May is a clue that this is anything but Hollywood-style seasonal fodder. The premise is simple – three generations are brought back to their family home by the need to find a bone-marrow donor for the clan's leukaemia-stricken matriarch. Resentments inevitably surface but the excellent...
The Bourne Cinema Conspiracy (Free subscription) | 06/14/2009
The Exploding Girl . 2009. Written and directed by Bradley Rust Gray . Produced by So Yong Kim , Karin Chien , Ben Howe , and Bradley Rust Gray . Cinematography by Eric Lin . Edited by So Yong Kim and Bradley Rust Gray . Sound by Michael Sterkin . Cast: Zoe Kazan (Ivy), Mark Rendall (Al), Franklin Pipp (Greg), Maryann Urbano (Mom). Bradley Rust Gray's lovely second feature The Exploding Girl will screen...
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