69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Winners

Last night the awards ceremony was (a lot) less funnier and entertaining than last year, I do believe that Ricky Gervais censored himself more, which undoubtedly helped to make ceremony duller. Just for example, the few jokes I laugh (like Jodie Foster Beaver) were so "clean", straight-forward and NOT sarcastic or dark that felt "elegant" in Gervais mouth. Anyway think that last year the shock-effect was what made show so remarkable and that happens only once.

At the end what I enjoyed most was watching the actors, lol!, especially Johnny that was a great positive surprise. What shocked me most was what press people were tweeting about the golden globes, some comments were truly insulting and I follow press people from Variety, Indiewire, NYT, and other minor Internet "famous" sites. What they tweeted is common or accepted knowledge (the HFPA awards don't have a good reputation), but was the "style" the "words" and the "intent" what was out of line especially when was coming from colleagues as all are news people. Disgusting.

So I kept tweeting nonsense, was to only way to keep busy and not fall asleep! LOL! But I made it until the end, so I suppose that my activity to keep-me-awake will be repeated on every awards show this year.

The good news is that this is the last awards show from critics and now is the turn to start learning if the Industry will behave -or not- the same. Here are the winners for some categories and if you wish to learn about all categories the official site is here. Winners are in *BLUE. The big winner of the night with three wins is The Artist.

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12/15/2011

A few minutes ago the nominations were announced and spontaneously I believe there are some surprises for me, but will comment after doing the post.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
*The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
50/50
*The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

Best Animated Feature Film
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
*The Adventures of Tintin

Best Foreign Language Film
*Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Iran
Jing Ling Shi San Chai (The Flowers of War), China
Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid With The Bike), Belgium
In The Land of Blood and Honey, USA
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodovar, Spain

Best Director
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
George Clooney for The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
*Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Glen Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
*Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Jodie Foster in Carnage
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Kristin Wiig in Bridesmaids
*Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet in Carnage

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer in The Help
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
*George Clooney in The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50
Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love
Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks in Drive
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen in A Dangerous Method
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Best Screenplay
*Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon for The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball

Best Original Score
*Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski for W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore for Hugo
John Williams for War Horse

Best Original Song
Hello Hello from Gnomeo & Juliet, Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
The Keeper from Machine Gun Preacher, Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell
Lay Your Head Down from Albert Nobbs, Music by Brian Byrne, Lyrics by Glenn Close
The Living Proof from The Help, Music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr., Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas
*Masterpiece from W.E., Music & Lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, and Jimmy Harry

To check the official announcement and later on the official list go here or here. The Award ceremony will be on Sunday, January 15, 2012 and will be broadcast by NBC, no matter what happens with the lawsuit (I believe).

So again the red carpet will be full of celebrities and some great actors (lol!) as for sure Brad and Angelina will be there along with Leonardo, George , Tilda, Meryl, Glenn and a few others that just with their first name you know who I’m talking about. As has been happening with other awards/nominations announcements The Weinstein Company is the motion picture distributor that has more nominations, here has 12; so it’s NO surprise that the movie with the most nods is The Artist with 6, followed by The Descendants and The Help with 5 each.

By now the news have reached the world and reactions are coming from all over, I like those from France, Belgium and be sure that will check China reaction to Zhang Yimou’s latest oeuvre nomination. Okay the biggest surprise for me is that Rooney Mara got a nomination, but as there are 10 nominated actresses, she was able to make it; still my five fav are included and can’t deny that I’m pleased with the honors given to Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet for their roles in Carnage which, strangely enough, no male roles made got any honor.

Then perhaps I’m more surprised by the omissions than for the movies that got nominations, most annoying is the absence of nominations for The Tree of Life and Melancholia, not that I liked both movies, but obviously this group always includes movies with high buzz in the festival circuit and imagine the reason why must be related to both directors being no-show at public events. LOL! Also miss Aki’s Le Havre, but in general I’m really pleased with the foreign-language film nominees especially IF Zhang Yimou (and not an actor) comes to the award show. The only exception is “you know who” but have to be fair and will comment only after watching In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Haven’t seen three of the six Best Motion Picture – Drama nominees and not really looking forward to watch them as believe that will be too predictable, so whoever wins will be all right for me as from those that have seen the best for me is The Help (?!).

More excited with the news that thanks to the TV categories great actresses will be in the red carpet like the one from my favorite TV show, Julianna Margulies and Claire Danes, followed by Maggie Smith, Eva Rachel Wood, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Elizabeth McGovern, and Romola Garai. By the way have to mention that excellent Downton Abbey and very good Mildred Pierce are the top TV shows with 4 nominations each, followed by Boardwalk Empire, Cinema Verite, Homeland, The Hour, Modern Family, and Too Big to Fail each with 3 nods.

So here is the list with each movie and the number of nominations it got.

THE ARTIST 6
THE DESCENDANTS 5
THE HELP 5
THE IDES OF MARCH 4
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS 4
MONEYBALL 4
ALBERT NOBBS 3
HUGO 3
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN 3
50/50 2
BRIDESMAIDS 2
CARNAGE 2
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 2
W.E. 2
WAR HORSE 2
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 1
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 1
BEGINNERS 1
CARS 2 1
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. 1
A DANGEROUS METHOD 1
DRIVE 1
THE FLOWERS OF WAR 1
GNOMEO & JULIET 1
THE GUARD 1
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY 1
THE IRON LADY 1
J. EDGAR 1
THE KID WITH A BIKE 1
MACHINE GUN PREACHER 1
PUSS IN BOOTS 1
RANGO 1
A SEPARATION 1
SHAME 1
LA PIEL QUE HABITO 1
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 1

Here is the video with the announcement of the first nominations that were not broadcasted live on national networks.



The second video is a recording of what was broadcasted live on national TV.

Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time In Anatolia)

I’m a true admirer of Nuri Bilge Ceylan outstanding films like Distant or Climates, even when I was not too pleased with Three Monkeys; but now I know he went back to what I can call his particular style that allow us to contemplate everything in the screen: the visuals, the dialogues, the situations, the slow pace, the awesome compositions, the use of light, the silences, the amazing long shots, and yes, the story that in this film is about men. Men stories all related to their own woman, but from the very manly restrained point of view. So I contemplated and had one of the best longest moments with great mouth dropping cinema.

For starters just after the opening credits there is a long, very long shot done with a still camera that didn’t move at all during what? Probably 10 to 15 minutes, if not more. Awesome. Story tells about a night where a group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes, so it’s easy to imagine the absolutely beautiful takes of the steppes we will see but what it’s truly amazing is that we watch them while twilight becomes dusk and dusk becomes night. Just imagine the color palette, that somehow reminds me very much of the color palette used in Distant.

Story will grab your attention and tension will develop not from “fictional” situations but from what looks and feels like reality, very realistic performances that are enhanced with great actors close-ups to deadpan faces that suddenly look directly into the camera and a small expression appears. Fabulous.

As I already mentioned film tells men stories, the story of Doctor Cemal, Prosecutor Nusret, Commissar Naci, one killer and the dead man. Each has a woman behind their tale, except the last two that –according to me- have one and the same woman. Thus even if they are looking for a body, slowly you will start to learn each man story and the weaving of all stories happen so flawlessly that you hardly notice that 150 minutes have passed by as you will want more.

Co-winner of the Grand Prix at 2011 Cannes and winner of Achievement in Directing plus Achievement in Cinematography at 2011 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Nuri Bilge Ceylan oeuvre highly deserves the honors and as we know is Turkey submission to Oscar, but I doubt that Academy members will appreciate this kind of true art in cinema. Sigh.

Have to admit that film is not for all audiences but since main story is very clear, a murder investigation, perhaps those who dare to watch it could enjoy the film as a very realistic recount of one night and one morning in the life of some men. Obviously I strongly recommend it to many that read this blog that I know will enjoy this very contemplative voyage into great cinema.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

17th Prix Lumière Award Winners

I'm currently watching the awards ceremony live, so here are the winners in *BLUE.

Very glad that a female director got the best director award, but not so happy that Aki got no honors at all. To check winners in all categories go here, soon winners will be listed as ceremony is almost over.

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12/19

A few moments ago the International Press Academy announced the nominations for the French equivalent to the Golden Globes and here they are.

Best Film
L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close, Bertrand Bonello
*The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
L’exercice de l’Etat, Pierre Schoeller
Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
Intouchables, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache

Best Foreign Film in French
Curling, Denis Cote, Canada
Et maintenant, on va où ?, Nadine Labaki, France, Lebanon, Italy
*Incendies, Denis Villeneuve, Canada
Le gamin au vélo, Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France, Italy
Les géants, Bouli Lanners (Belgium, Luxembourg, France

Best Director
Bertrand Bonello for L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Aki Kaurismäki for Le Havre
*Maïwenn for Polisse
Pierre Schoeller for L’exercice de l’Etat

Best Actress
*Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Catherine Deneuve et Chiara Mastroianni in Les bien-aimés
Valérie Donzelli in La guerre est déclarée
Marina Fois et Karin Viard in Polisse
Clothilde Hesme in Angèle et Tony

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Olivier Gourmet in L’exercice de l’Etat
JoeyStarr in Polisse
*Omar Sy in Intouchables
André Wilms in Le Havre

Best Female Newcomer
*Alice Barno in L’ Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
*Adèle Haenel in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Zoé Heran in Tomboy
*Céline Sallette in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Anamaria Valtoromei in My Little Princess

Best Male Newcomer
Grégory Gadebois in Angèle et Tony
Guillaume Gouix in Jimmy Rivière
Raphaël Ferret in Présumé coupable
*Denis Menochet in Les adoptés
Mahmoud Shalaby in Les hommes libres

Awards ceremony will be on Friday, January 13, 2012 and hope to watch it live as I did last year. The nominations eventually will be at the official site in the meantime go here available only in French.

Have not seen many of these movies and there are two or three that I’m “dying” to see yet hope to be able to watch them ASAP. It’s kind of true that this year nominations resemble Cannes more than in previous years as there are only 11 of 40 nominees that don’t belong to a film screened at 2011 Cannes. I imagine that Cesar categories will look very similar to these as all the great movies plus the ones with much buzz are included in the list.

17th Critics’ Choice Awards Winners

Last night watched the awards ceremony that was okay, nothing special well, maybe watching Bob Dylan was my "special moment"; anyway I believe that there were no surprises and somehow show a trend on what film critics liked during 2011. Winners for all categories are not yet posted at the official site but will be here soon; winners are in *BLUE.

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12/13

Today the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced the nominations for the current year with Hugo and The Artist leading the pack each with 11 nominations. These are the nominees for the main categories.

Best Picture
*The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Animated Feature
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
*Rango

Best Action Movie
*Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8

Best Comedy
*Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets

Best Foreign Language Film
In Darkness, Poland
Le Havre, Finland
*A Separation, Iran
The Skin I Live In, Spain
Where Do We Go Now, Lebanon

Best Director
Stephen Daldry for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Steven Spielberg for War Horse

Best Actress
*Viola Davis in The Help
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan in Shame
*Octavia Spencer in The Help
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

Best Actor
*George Clooney in The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks in Drive
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Patton Oswalt in Young Adult
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Andrew Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Young Actress/Actor
Asa Butterfield in Hugo
Elle Fanning in Super 8
*Thomas Horn in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Ezra Miller in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Saoirse Ronan in Hanna
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

Best Acting Ensemble
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
*The Help
The Ides of March

Best Documentary Feature
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
*George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated

If you wish to check nominees in all categories please go here. Awards ceremony will be on Thursday January 12, 2012 at the Hollywood Palladium, will be broadcast live on VH1 AT 8:00pm ET, and will be hosted by Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer.

Yes, I’m starting to see a trend with East Coast critics liking The Artist and West Coast critics preferring a different movie; but, in general seems that up-to-today The Artist could be the critics favorite. The six nominees in each category is not a bad idea this year, especially in the Best Actress category that not only mimics my true choice but also I’m certain the list has the five that have to be nominated for Oscar. One unforgivable omission in these nominees is Pina, but then maybe not many critics have seen the movie even do this group represents more than 250 television, radio and online critics.

2011 Critics Awards - Final

With today's announcement by the National Society of Film Critics we close this post to be final as has almost the winners of all listed groups -except for one.

Critics didn't concentrate their honors into one particular movie like happened last year, nevertheless we know that the film with more wins is The Artist followed by The Tree of Life and The Descendants. Congruently with the best film category Michel Hazanavicius leads the best director tally but then incorporates two new films as is followed by Nicolas Winding Refn and Martin Scorsese.

Michelle Williams is the actress with more wins followed by Tilda Swinton; other winners like Viola Davis and Meryl Streep are far away from the first two. Jessica Chastain leads the Best Supporting Actress wins, followed close by (that's a surprise for me) Shailene Woodley in The Descendats, Octavia Spencer in The Help, and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.

Best Actor has three close actors, but is George Clooney who got the most wins, followed by Michael Fassbender and Michael Shannon. Best Supporting Actor has Albert Brooks leading the pack with Christopher Plummer following far away.

I know that critics are not Academy members but also know that they do honor some of the movies that later will get Oscar nominations. I imagine that soon my crystal ball will be used to give my best Oscar guesses and surely critics will help me to guess better.

Cheers!

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12/11

As there were several announcements during the weekend and specially today, decided to do the first update to this post that will continue to change until becomes final. Up to this moment, The Artist seems to be popular among critics and no other category seems to have a clear trend, except for Best Supporting Actress that is not listed here but where many are starting to agree.

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12/6

Last year I was able to get a good picture of what critics liked and honored with their awards as did one post will all the info; as worked will do the same this year and today we start this post that will be updated constantly as groups, societies, associations, circles, etc do their announcements. New this year is to publish Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor, not only the film as last year.

Alliance of Women Film Journalist (EDA Awards)
Nominations: Official Site

Austin Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Boston Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Chicago Film Critics Association
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Official site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

Detroit Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official Site
Winners: News here.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Dublin Film Critics Circle
Winners: Not at Official site, news here.
Best Film: Drive
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Drive

Florida Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

The Houston Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site down. News here.
Winners: News here.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Have To Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Indiana Film Journalist Association
Winners: Official site is down. News here.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Indiewire Annual Critics Survey
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Lead Performance: Michael Fassbender in Shame
Best Supporting Performance: Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti in Win win

National Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Melancholia
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
Best Actor: Brad Pitt in Moneyball

New York Film Critics Online
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Online Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site
Winners: Official site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of LIfe
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Phoenix Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Oficial Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

St. Louis Film Critics
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Rooney Mara in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

San Diego Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official Site.
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Brit Marling in Another Earth
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Southeastern Film Critics Association
Winners: Official site or news here.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

Toronto Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Utah Film Critics Association
Winners: news.
Best Film: Drive
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50

The Washington DC Area Film Critics
Winners – Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

As we know there are a few exceptions that will get their own post.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tomas Alfredson is the director of my favorite vampire movie I’ve ever seen, Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), so I had big expectations for his first English language film. Have to say that film has traces of what I can call Alfredson style, great slowish pace, good framing and some spectacular indoor compositions, and a darkish/blueish tone that made me think about colder scenarios, but then –after all- film is set in the Cold War. Visually I found film very compelling but I had a problem that distract me a lot from truly enjoying the film.

I have not read the novel by John le Carré but, unfortunately I read once, more than the headline reviews and end up learning the character that was the double agent, which surely spoiled the complete story and tension building –still, performances are quite good; so highly enjoyed the almost cruel, freezing-cold bloody characters with some great dialogues.

Probably is only me but nowadays I admit not to be interested in Cold War spies, double agents, missions or anything else related. For me the world tensions have changed so much that the spying world has also changed a lot as players and circumstances have become “less classic” and more “underworld”. So even if I did enjoy the directorial style, the visuals, the slowish pace, the performances, I wasn’t able to get involved with the story. Undoubtedly knowing “who-did-it” was a major spoiler, but also story needs to be told maybe in what, 20-30 years to become relevant again.

Film basically tells the story of a British semi-retired spy that is given the task to uncover a double (British-Russian) agent at the TOP of British echelons.

But if you enjoy classical–very close to reality- spy films with no Hollywood distracting chases/sfx’s, with darkish/blueish great directorial style and great performances by an extraordinary actor’s ensemble that deliver some crisp lines then probably you will enjoy this movie even more than what I did.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC

2nd Online World Festival of French Cinema

A year ago I was highly excited about being part of the very first French Cinema festival online as was one of the (too) many jurors. A year after the second edition promises to be a little bit more interesting, not only because it has become more available (14 languages) but also there are a couple of films that could be very interesting.

Let me share with you excerpts of the press release I got this year.

Unifrance Films and Allociné are launching the 2nd edition of the Online World Festival of French Cinema, MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, from 12 January to 1 February 2012. Three weeks to discover young French film creation throughout the world!

After its first edition, which attracted more than 320,000 Internet users from 170 different countries, the Festival is even bigger in 2012. The selection proposes via paying VOD 10 French feature films and 10 French shorts, as well as 3 films out of competition: "The Trip Across Paris", directed by Claude Autant-Lara, and two Canadian films, one short and one feature. Three prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the festival: the Audience Prize, International Press Prize and Social Network’s Prize.

This year both the films and website are available in 14 different languages. In addition to the official platform, the Festival is hosted worldwide by partner platforms. The films can be watched free of charge in certain territories: Latin America, Russia, Germany, Italy and China.

The following are the films that will be shown this year.

Feature Films In Competition
Belle épine (Dear Prudence), Rebecca Zlotowski
Case depart (Back to square one), Lionel Steketee
D'amour et d'eau fraîche (Living On Love Alone), Isabelle Czajka
Entre nos mains (Into our own hands), Mariana Otero
Huit fois debout (Eight Times Up), Xabi Molia
J'aime regarder les filles (18 years old and rising), Frédéric Louf
La Reine des pommes (Queen of Hearts), Jérémie Elkaïm
Memory Lane, Mikhaël Hers
Pauline et François (Pauline andFrançois), Renaud Fely
Un poison violent (Love Like Poison) Directed by Katell Quillévéré

Short Films In Competition
Aglaée, Rudi Rosenberg
C’est à Dieu qu’il faut le dire (God's the one to tell), Elsa Diringer
Cul de bouteille (Specky Four-Eyes),Directed by Jean-Claude Rozec
Dripped, Léo Verrier
J'aurais pu être une pute (I could've been a hooker), Baya Kasmi
L'Accordeur (The Piano Tuner), Olivier Treiner
Le Meilleur ami de l'homme (Man's best friend), Vincent Mariette
Monsieur l'abbé (Dear Abbot), Blandine Lenoir
Petit tailleur (The Little Tailor), Louis Garrel
The Silence Beneath the Bark, Joanna Lurie

Out of Competition
La Traversée de Paris (The Trip Across Paris), Claude Autant-Lara
La Vérité, Marc Bisaillon
Trotteur, Arnaud Brisebois

To watch movies, check director’s interviews, watch trailers and more go to the fest official site here.  Hope you’ll participate in this incredible festival that STILL is the only one that’s truly open to the world; is with our participation that this and hopefully many more unconventional “distribution channels” could become available in regions where otherwise is impossible to be able to watch GREAT films.

Enjoy!