César Nominations & Lumière Awards

by Nathaniel Rogers

NOUVELLE VAGUE

(I know I know we need to talk about the BAFTAs but I started this post first. Patience). We like to share the César nominations each year (i.e. the French Oscars) and as in most years there is at least a bit of Oscar crossover -- this year you see it in Best Screenplay, Best Live Action Short, Best Animated Feature, and of course Best International Feature which tends to be the category with the most crossover at any country's own awards. Richard Linklater's delightful black-and-white retelling of the making of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, Nouvelle Vague, led the nominations. Their Oscar submission/nominee this year Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident received just two nominations but it's in the top category.

To make this even more interesting we thought we'd compare it to the Lumière Awards which were already held and which I've heard called France's Golden Globes though I don't know about the accuracy of that. Their taste runs quite different this year as they loved François Ozon's The Stranger most which barely shows up at the Césars. Okay ready? Read on for Isabelle Huppert's latest, Jodie Foster's snub, and more...

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John Waters kicks off an already swinging 'Top Ten Season'

by Nathaniel R

 It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas... "top ten season"!!! It's when we get to read so many different writers on what they valued most in a given year of entertainment (movies and otherwise). As per usual the festivities kicked off with director John Waters annual list for Film Forum. He places François Ozon's Peter Von Kant up top. 

By far the best movie of the year. Fassbinder’s classic lesbian melodrama is appropriated and remade as a gay Frenchman’s love letter to the original version. Hilariously stilted, often overwrought, but always highly entertaining.

The enthusiasm is a smidge confounding...

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A peek at what's playing at the 72nd annual Berlinale

please welcome new contributor John Lynn-Fernandez

M Night Shyamalan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and Connie Nielsen are on the jury

The Berlin Film Festival kicked off last night. It's the second of the "Big Five" film festivals each year (after Sundance, before Cannes). In this preview, some films that stand out as potential highlights of the festival. But, of course, you never know which discoveries or films will emerge as the triumphs until audiences are watching them...

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Cannes Diary #2: New Ozon and old Japanese sensations

by Elisa Giudici

At the premiere of "Everything Went Fine"

The Festival has really begun and I finally discovered where the press room is inside the enormous Palais. Free coffees and soft drinks for journalists are a treat I never experienced at other festivals (so I'm feeling spoiled). The room is lovely with its wooden tables and cream colored seats with a view on the blue sea. The day after Annette, it's still the first question everyone asks: do you like it or not? I've already had interesting discussion about the movie with a couple of colleagues. I am really curious to see how it will be received by broader audience after the "festival bubble" ends.

But on to the day two screenings...

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Cannes at Home: Day 2

by Cláudio Alves

Today at the Cannes Film Festival, Israeli cineaste Nadav Lapid and French provocateur François Ozon premiered two more films in competition. Both flicks, Ahed's Knee and Everything Went Fine, have received good notices, intensifying international anticipation. Since most of us can't be at Cannes, we shall distract ourselves with past works from these auteurs. Another notable first screening was Todd Haynes' documentary about The Velvet Underground, featured out of competition. In the Cinema à la Plage section, Jerry Schatzberg's Palme d'Or-winning Scarecrow returned to the festival, while Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir screened for the Director's Fortnight in anticipation of its sequel. Considering all this, let's delve into our Cannes at Home alternative program…

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