Saturday, April 30, 2011

Jar City (2006)

Jar City / Mýrin (2006)
Jar City / Mýrin (2006)

Genre: Drama
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Starring:  Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson
Duration: 91 min.
Rating: 7.5/10

Summary:
A world-weary cop comes to believe a recent murder of a elderly man is linked to a case of rape three decades ago and works to put the pieces together.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Potiche (2010)

Potiche (2010)
Potiche (2010)

Genre: Comedy
Director: François Ozon
Starring:  Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini, Karin Viard
Duration: 103 min.
Rating: 7.4/10

Summary:
Suzanne is a housewife married to a wealthy businessman. Her life changes dramatically when she's forced to lead the company after her husband's heart attack. Surprisingly, Suzanne feels very comfortable in her new job and she's able to revive the business.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Dream Home (2010)

Dream Home / Wai dor lei ah yut ho (2010)
Dream Home / Wai dor lei ah yut ho / 維多利亞壹號 (2010)

Genre: Horror
Director: Pang Ho-cheung
Starring: Josie Ho, Eason Chan, Derek Tsang
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 7.4/10

Summary:
Cheng Li-sheung is a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive, even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

White Night Wedding (2008)

White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn (2008)
White Night Wedding / Brúðguminn (2008)

Genre: Drama
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Starring:  Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir, Laufey Elíasdóttir, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 6.3/10

Summary:
Literature professor Jon prepares to wed onetime student Thora, the daughter of the region's most prosperous clan.  Sadly, however, disadvantageous circumstances threaten to stand in the way of the couple's happiness, including a fiscal dispute between the family of the bride and the family of the bridegroom, and by Jon's complicated past.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Norwegian Wood (2010)

Norwegian Wood / Noruwei no mori (2010)
Norwegian Wood / Noruwei no mori / ノルウェイの森 (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Anh Hung Tran
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara
Duration:  133 min.
Rating: 6.8/10

Summary:
Toru remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend.  As the two try, in very different ways, to contend with their grief, Toru forms a bond with another woman, Midori.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Gallants (2010)

Gallants / Da lui toi / 打擂台 / (2010)

Genre: Action / Comedy
Director: Derek Kwok, Clement Chang
Starring: Teddy Robin, Chen Kuan-tai, Leung Siu-lung, MC Jin
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.8/10

Summary:
Two has-been martial arts masters are holed up in a village restaurant, tending to their master who is in a coma. Trouble arrives in the form of a gang of roughs; diplomats for the ruthless developers that are drooling over their property. The master wakes up with a start, and pushes the old boys into action for home and country.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Seagull's Laughter (2001)

The Seagull's Laughter / Mávahlátur (2001)
The Seagull's Laughter / Mávahlátur (2001)

Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Ágúst Guðmundsson
Starring: Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir, Ugla Egilsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Guðnason
Duration: 102 min.
Rating: 7.3/10

Summary:
It is 1953, and Freya, who had gone to America as an officer’s bride, has returned home to begin a new life. She moves into a small house of distant relatives in a quiet fishing village within Iceland. But unlike the drab, plump girl who went abroad, Freya, now in her twenties, is a stunningly beautiful woman. With her long chestnut brown hair, slender figure, and chic American fashions, she is somewhat of a mystery to the women of the household, including the inquisitive eleven-year-old Agga, and especially to the men of the community.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Poetry (2010)

Poetry / Shi (2010)
Poetry / Shi / 시 (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Lee Chang-dong
Starring: Yoon Jeong-hee
Duration: 139 min.
Rating: 7.5/10

Summary:
A sixty-something woman, faced with the discovery of a heinous family crime and in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, finds strength and purpose when she enrolls in a poetry class.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The Two Escobars (2010)

The Two Escobars (2010)

Genre: Documentary
Director: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.4/10

Summary:
Pablo Escobar was the richest, most powerful drug kingpin in the world, ruling the Medellín Cartel with an iron fist. Andres Escobar was the biggest soccer star in Colombia. The two were not related, but their fates were inextricably-and fatally-intertwined.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Man From Nowhere (2010)

The Man From Nowhere / Ajeossi (2010)
The Man From Nowhere / Ajeossi / 아저씨 (2010)

Genre: Action Thriller
Director: Lee Jeong-beom
Starring: Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Hyo-seo
Duration: 119 min.
Rating: 7.3/10

Summary:
A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug and organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

30th Hong Kong Film Awards (2011)


The 30th Hong Kong Film Awards, took place Sunday evening with Tsui Hark's Tang Dynasty murder mystery Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame leading the way with 6 awards.  The low budget action comedy Gallants was the surprise of the night, taking home 4 awards including, Best Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Film Score.  I definitely have to check that one out now.

Carina Lau, accepting the Best Actress award.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

64th Cannes Film Festival (2011) Un Certain Regard


The Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival is for recognition of young talent and encouragement of innovative and daring works.  The winner receives a 30,000 Euro grant to assist in the films distribution.  Two time Palme d'Or winner, Serbian director Emir Kusturica will serve as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury.

This year's lineup has 19 films from a wide range of directors, two of them are first films.  I am especially looking forward to Hadewijch director Bruno Dumont's Hors Satan billed as a supernatural thriller set in the Pas de Calais region of France, Romanian New Wave director Catalin Mitilescu's second effort Loverboy, and Na Hong-jin's action thriller Yellow Sea the follow-up to his incredible first film 2008's The Chaser.

Monday, April 18, 2011

64th Cannes Film Festival (2011) Official Selection

This year's poster features an image of the stunning Faye Dunaway from Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970).

On last Thursday, April 14th.  The official selection lineup for the 2011 Cannes Film Festival was announced.  French actress Melanie Laurent will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies and Robert De Niro will preside over the Competition Jury.

This year's exciting competition lineup boasts quite an incredible list of directors, some of whose films I have been greatly anticipating.  Most notably, Cannes darlings Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Boy with a Bike, Terrence Malick's long awaited Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, and Lars Von Trier's apocalyptic sci-fi Melancholia starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Other interesting entries are Takashi Miike's 3D remake of Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 classic Hara-Kiri, veteran Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's revenge thriller The Skin I Live In reuniting him with star Antonio Banderas, and Bertrand Bonello's L'Apollonide set in an early 1900's Paris brothel.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Cinematic Alphabet - By The Numbers

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my Robert Bresson retrospective over the last couple of weeks.  It was both fun and challenging, locating them all, viewing them in order and keeping the posts on schedule.  I do have a few other directors/themes I want to explore here in the near future, but now that the NHL playoffs have started, it will be awhile before I attempt another project of similar scope.

Moving on, I present you with a completely frivolous filler post.  I've noticed recently quite a few movie bloggers have been posting their Alphabetical Movie Lists with films for each letter of the alphabet.  I've decided to do mine a little differently, with numbers:

Saturday, April 16, 2011

L'argent (1983)

L'argent (1983)
L'argent (1983)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Christian Patey, Béatrice Tabourin, Didier Baussy, Vincent Visterucci
Duration: 83 min.
Rating: 8.3/10

Summary:
A young innocent truck driver is wrongfully blamed as the source of counterfeit bills, and he is terminated from his job.  Soon afterwards he agrees to help in a bank robbery to support his family, but things quickly spiral downwards in this ruthless tale of greed, corruption and murder.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Devil, Probably (1977)

The Devil, Probably / Le diable probablement (1977)
The Devil, Probably / Le diable probablement (1977)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Antoine Monnier, Tina Irissari, Henri de Maublanc, Laetitia Carcano
Duration: 95 min.
Rating: 7.7/10

Summary:
Charles is a student who has dabbled in political action and investigated the claims of religion but ultimately finds nothing that changes the overwhelming malaise he feels.  In order to avoid the mortal sin of suicide, he pays a drug-addict to shoot him.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lancelot of the Lake (1974)

Lancelot of the Lake / Lancelot du Lac (1974)
Lancelot of the Lake / Lancelot du Lac (1974)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 6.3/10

Summary:
After failing to locate the Holy Grail, Lancelot returns alone and empty handed to a Camelot divided by rumour.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971)

Four Nights of a Dreamer / Quatre nuits d'un rêveur (1971)
Four Nights of a Dreamer / Quatre nuits d'un rêveur (1971)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Isabelle Weingarten, Guillaume des Forets, Maurice Monnoyer
Duration: 87 min.
Rating: 8.6/10

Summary:
The 'dreamer' is Jacques, a young painter, who by chance runs into Marthe as she's contemplating suicide on the Pont-Neuf in Paris. They talk, and agree to see each other again the next night.  Over the next couple of nights, Jacques falls in love with her...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Gentle Woman (1969)

A Gentle Woman / Une femme douce (1969)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Dominique Sanda, Guy Frangin, Jeanne Lobre
Duration: 88 min.
Rating: 7.8/10

Summary:
A heartbreaking tale of love's failure to unite two people. When the young wife of a pawnbroker suddenly and inexplicably commits suicide, her distraught husband tries to understand what could have led to such a desperate act.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Mouchette (1967)

Mouchette (1967)
Mouchette (1967)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring:  Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal, Paul Hebert
Duration: 78 min.
Rating: 8.1/10

Summary:
Mouchette is a young teenager with a hard life.  Her mother is on her deathbed, and her alcoholic father abuses her.  One night in the woods, she meets Arsène, an illegal poacher and who lives in the village.  He thinks he has just killed Mathieu, the local gamekeeper.  So he tries to use Mouchette to build an alibi.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

Au hasard Balthazar (1966)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Anne Wiazemsky, Walter Green, François Lafarge, Jean-Claude Guilbert
Duration: 95 min.
Rating: 7.8/10

Summary:
Following the life of the donkey Balthazar as he passes from owner to owner, many of them treating him cruelly.  His sad predicament as a beast of burden parallels the life of his first human owner, Marie, who like Balthazar suffers the sins of man.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)

The Trial of Joan of Arc /  Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)
The Trial of Joan of Arc /  Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Florence Delay, Jean-Claude Fourneau, Roger Honorat
Duration: 65 min.
Rating: 7.1/10

Summary:
A reconstruction of the trial of Joan of Arc, including Joan's imprisonment, interrogation and final execution at the hands of the English.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Pickpocket (1959)

Pickpocket (1959)
Pickpocket (1959)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri
Duration: 76 min.
Rating: 9.3/10

Summary:
A solitary young man yields to an uncontrollable urge to steal from a woman’s handbag in the crowds at a horse race.  He is caught, but released through lack of evidence.  Afterwards, he reflects on the morality of crime and arrives at the conclusion that a certain privileged class in society has a right to steal.  He turns his back on his dying mother and his few friends, and resumes his pickpocketing, unable to control his addiction...

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Man Escaped (1956)

A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)
A Man Escaped /  Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring:  François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Duration: 99 min.
Rating: 8.8/10

Summary:
A French Resistance activistis imprisoned by the Nazis, and devotes his waking hours to planning an elaborate escape. Then on the day that he is condemned to death, he is given a new cellmate.  Should he kill him, or risk revealing his plans to someone who may be a Gestapo informer?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Diary of a Country Priest (1951)

Diary of a Country Priest /  Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)
Diary of a Country Priest /  Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Claude Laydu, Jean Riveyre, Andre Guibert
Duration: 110 min.
Rating: 7.5/10

Summary:
A young priest arrives to take over the local parish in a small village in northern France.  Even though he is alienated by the community, and he constantly suffers from a serious stomach ailment, the inexperienced and frail priest tries his best to help the villagers.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945)

The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne / Les dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)
The Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne / Les dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Paul Bernard, Maria Casares, Elina Labourdette, Lucienne Bogaert
Duration: 84 min.
Rating: 6.5/10

Summary:
Realizing that her lover is losing interest in her, a society lady gets revenge by tricking him into marrying a former prostitute.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Angels of the Streets (1943)

Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)
Angels of the Streets / Les anges du péché (1943)

Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Bresson
Starring: Renée Faure, Jany Holt
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 7.6/10

Summary:
A well-off young woman decides to join a convent that rehabilitates female prisoners.  Through their program, she meets a woman named Thérèse who refuses any help because she says she is innocent.  After her release from prison, Thérèse murders the actual perpetrator of the crime and comes to seek sanctuary in the convent.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Happy, Happy (2010)

Happy, Happy / Sykt lykkelig (2010)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Starring:  Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Joachim Rafaelsen
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 6.6/10

Summary:
A perfect housewife, who just happens to be sex-starved, struggles to keep her emotions in check when an attractive family moves in next door. 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Senna (2010)

Senna (2010)
Senna (2010)


Genre: Documentary
Director: Asif Kapadia
Duration: 162 min.
Rating: 8.7

Summary:
The story of the monumental life and tragic death of legendary Brazilian motor-racing Champion, Ayrton Senna.

Friday, April 1, 2011

The Story of Marie and Julien (2003)

The Story of Marie and Julien / Histoire de Marie et Julien (2003)
The Story of Marie and Julien / Histoire de Marie et Julien (2003)

Genre: Drama / Mystery
Director: Jacques Rivette
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Anne Brochet
Duration: 150 min.
Rating: 7.6/10

Summary:
Julien is a clockmaker with destructive impulses who decides to blackmail Madame X, a stolen antiques trafficker.  What he doesn’t know is that she has an even more dangerous secret that leads him to Marie, with whom he had fallen in love a year earlier.  She is an enigma, and despite their intensifying love, Marie seems incapable of physical feeling.  Julien, who has rediscovered his love for life, is ready to crack the mystery and to help Marie free herself.