Thompson on Hollywood

Exclusive Clip & Interview with 'Oslo, August 31st' director Joachim Trier

Features

The one-two punch of Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier's "Reprise" and "Oslo, August 31st" makes him one of Scandinavia's finest directorial exports, joining the likes of Denmark's Lars von Trier (a distant relative) and Susanne Bier. "Oslo" is bold and breathtaking.

By Sophia Savage
|
May 21, 2012 10:00 AM
|
0 Comments

More:

Cannes Market: 70mm Doc 'Samsara' Sells to Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Oscilloscope Has U.S.

News

"Samsara," documentarian Ron Fricke's follow-up to "Baraka," was shot over five years on five continents on 70mm film. eOne Canada acquired rights to the film, which will be released in the US by Oscilloscope and in Germany by Busch Media Group on August 24.

By Sophia Savage
|
May 17, 2012 1:30 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

Cohen Media Group to Release Italian Oscar-Entry 'Terraferma' (video)

News

"Terraferma," Italy's 2011 Oscar entry, will be released in the US by Cohen Media Group, which recently released "The Lady," and will open "Farewell, My Queen" July 13.

By Sophia Savage
|
May 10, 2012 4:05 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

Watch An Exclusive Clip from Maïwenn's Gripping Cannes Winner 'Polisse'

Video

This time last year, Maïwenn's "Polisse" was days away from winning the Cannes Jury prize. It would go on to travel the global festival circuit and pick up a pair of Césars along the way (it was nominated for thirteen). Sundance Selects releases the film May 18, and adult audiences should treat themselves to this very human drama. Writer-director and co-star Maïwenn leads her ensemble cast (including Emmanuelle Bercot, who co-wrote) through the aches, pains and necessary-to-survive humor of her French police officers working within Paris' Child Protection Unit.

By Sophia Savage
|
May 10, 2012 12:05 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

55th San Francisco International Film Festival Announces Awards and Prizes at Golden Gate Awards Party

Festivals

While the Golden Gate Awards party was going on at the Rasselas Jazz Club and Restaurant on Fillmore, I was some 33 miles south, at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, watching Howard Hawks’ “A Girl in Every Port,” accompanied by Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer...

By Meredith Brody
|
May 3, 2012 4:32 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

Premiere at Tribeca, Sell at Cannes – The Israeli Solution?

Festivals

In Tribeca 2012 there are three Israeli features, considered by critics who saw them in pre-festival screenings to be among the best in Tribeca’s offerings this year. They are "Yossi," by Eytan Fox; "Room 514," a first film by Sharon Bar-Ziv, shot in one room; and "The Flat," Arnon Goldfinger's documentary.

By David D'Arcy
|
April 23, 2012 1:03 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

SFIFF Review: 'Tokyo Waka: A City Poem'

Reviews

Would someone please summon Alfred Hitchcock? "Tokyo Waka; A City Poem" is, among other things, an ode to the crows that seem everywhere in that Japanese city. They attack people, they eat anything available, and they raid the city’s zoo to steal baby prairie dogs and other small animals that they can carry away.

By David D'Arcy
|
April 20, 2012 3:38 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

COLCOA 2012 Opening Night, From New "My Way' to 'A Trip to the Moon' and 'Breathless'

Festivals

Opening night at the City of Lights City of Angels French film week at the Directors Guild always features sweet champagne and pastries, a mediocre French movie that the French consider to be the kind of commercial film American distributors should embrace but never do...

By Anne Thompson
|
April 17, 2012 1:10 PM
|
1 Comment

More:

'Monsieur Lazhar' Director Falardeau Talks Educational Boundaries, Says 'Death is Absurd'

Features

Canada's "Monsieur Lazhar," from director Philippe Falardeau (One of five Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language film; it lost to Iran's "A Separation"), is a quiet portrait of a mysterious new teacher (Mohamed Fellag) and his suffering young pupils, all of whom are coping with tragedy...

By Sophia Savage
|
April 11, 2012 3:08 PM
|
0 Comments

More:

French Trailer Watch: Audiard's 'Rust & Bone' Stars Cotillard and Schoenaerts

Video

The trailer from Jacques Audiard's ("A Prophet") upcoming film "Rust & Bone" starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts ("Bullhead") reveals a darkly subtle tone.