Jean Gabin: French Superstar

by Cláudio Alves

The 11th Academy Awards marked an important first in Oscar history. Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion, a French drama about class hierarchies and political strife in World War I, received a Best Picture nomination. It became the first non-English language film to ever do so. As we all know, it'd take 81 years for one such picture to win Hollywood's most coveted trophy, but we're not here to talk about Parasite's glorious victory as tempting as that is. Instead, our subject matter is one of French cinema's greatest stars, a brilliant actor that grew to be a cultural monument, the leading man of that historic '38 Best Picture nominee. Jean Gabin was a divinity of the Silver Screen, as magnetic as he was devastating…

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Would you rather?

This is our excuse to share Instagram photos we love this past week or so, so please indulge us. Answer the question in the comments. Would you rather...

real fishness pride

• cosplay mermen with KJ Apa?
• shop for bathroom tiles with Christina Hendricks?
• do posture exercizes with Alec Utgoff?
• dress-up and read storybooks with Channing Tatum?
• dance to WAP with Laverne Cox?
• have espresso with Salma Hayek?
• arrive in Venice stylishly with Pierre Niney?
• stage a one-man musical like David Dastmalchian?
• relax in the pool, Mariah blasting, with Kerry Washington?
• watch Cape Fear with Juliette Lewis herself?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide. (If there's a gif you should click for the video)

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Cannes' Oscar Impact

by Murtada Elfadl 

The Cannes Film festival is not usually a bellwether for Oscars. That happens with the trifecta of late August / early September of Venice, Telluride and Toronto. However this year several movies that premiered in the main competition and in adjacent sections have been nominated for Oscars. Two of them  - Parasite and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - scored multiple nominations and are expected to win a few and are considered favorites for the big prize, Best Picture... 

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"1917" big in weekend three (and other box office stories)

The war drama 1917 moved into wide release in its third weekend, touting that big Globes victory, and scored with an amazing haul for a serious non-franchise film with no bankable stars. The civil rights drama Just Mercy also had a successful expansion to wide release in its third weekend but that one has three movie stars to help it (Michael B Jordan and Jamie Foxx in the main roles and Brie Larson in support) 

Weekend Box Office January 10th-12th (ESTIMATES) 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)	PLATFORM TITLES
1 🔺  1917  $36.5 (cum. $39.2) GLOBE VICTORIES, TEASER ★	1 🔺   PARASITE $966k on 345 screens (cum. $25.3) PODCAST, CLASS, BONG, SAG CAST ★

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Interview: Ladj Ly on 'Les Miserables'

by Murtada Elfadl

Winning a major prize at last May’s Cannes and the French finalist for Best International Film this year, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is a searing story of an escalating volatile situation taking place in Montfermeil, a Parisian project. A new policeman Stéphane (Damien Bonnard) joins the anti-crime squad and is paired up with Chris (Alexis Manenti) and Gwada (Djebril Zonga), whose methods are sometimes brutal and against the people they are supposed to be protecting. The trio get into a whole heap of trouble when they use excessive force on a gang of young boys misbehaving. The film builds sustainable tension across its running time until it boils over, with assured intense filmmaking.

We recently met with Ly in New York to discuss his film, opening today in limited release. [This interview was conducted in French and English with the help of an interpreter and has been edited and condensed for clarity.] 

Murtada Elfadl: The film has a lot of perspectives. The police, young Issa and his friends, the many factions living in the area. Can you talk about balancing the different perspectives and different characters?

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