‘Canary Black’: First-Look Image From Action Thriller Starring Kate Beckinsale & Rupert Friend — AFM
Principal photography has begun in Croatia on the action thriller Canary Black, starring Kate Beckinsale and Rupert Friend (Anatomy of a Scandal). Production has also shared the first-look image from the project, which you can check out above.
The action flick is directed by the Taken and Peppermint filmmaker Pierre Morel from a screenplay by Matthew Kennedy (Inheritance). Producer, financier, and sales firm Anton (Greenland) holds world sales rights and will be selling the film at AFM this week.
The film’s plot follows a top CIA operative, Avery Graves (Beckinsale), who is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. Betrayed at every turn, she must rely on her cutting-edge training and primitive fighting skills in a deadly race to deliver...
The action flick is directed by the Taken and Peppermint filmmaker Pierre Morel from a screenplay by Matthew Kennedy (Inheritance). Producer, financier, and sales firm Anton (Greenland) holds world sales rights and will be selling the film at AFM this week.
The film’s plot follows a top CIA operative, Avery Graves (Beckinsale), who is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. Betrayed at every turn, she must rely on her cutting-edge training and primitive fighting skills in a deadly race to deliver...
- 11/1/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
“Blast,” a high-concept thriller produced and represented in international markets by Paris-based company Wide, has sold to several territories at the Efm in Berlin.
Vanya Peirani-Vignes’ feature debut, “Blast” takes place Parisian parking lot where Sonia finds herself trapped in her car with her son while her boyfriend’s daughter has been left outside to deal with anti-tank mine that has been set under the car. The film, now in post, is headlined by Nora Arnezeder, Pierre Kiwitt and Sara Mortensen.
Wide has just sold the film to Japan (New Select) and Latin America (Great Movies). “Blast” also recently sold to Spain (Mediaset) and China (Star Alliance).
“As a producer, I am very happy to work with New Select, who’s a long-term partner and who’s working on films with a real vision of marketing, providing films with a real visibility,” said Wide’s founder Loic Magneron.
“Shoko has...
Vanya Peirani-Vignes’ feature debut, “Blast” takes place Parisian parking lot where Sonia finds herself trapped in her car with her son while her boyfriend’s daughter has been left outside to deal with anti-tank mine that has been set under the car. The film, now in post, is headlined by Nora Arnezeder, Pierre Kiwitt and Sara Mortensen.
Wide has just sold the film to Japan (New Select) and Latin America (Great Movies). “Blast” also recently sold to Spain (Mediaset) and China (Star Alliance).
“As a producer, I am very happy to work with New Select, who’s a long-term partner and who’s working on films with a real vision of marketing, providing films with a real visibility,” said Wide’s founder Loic Magneron.
“Shoko has...
- 2/25/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, Nikita Pavlenk, Anna Krippa, Aleksey Maslodudov, Eric Godon, Ivan Franek, Jean-Baptiste Puech, Adrian Can | Written and Directed by Luc Besson
Luc Besson returns to cinema screens with his first, and presumably last, film he will be afforded to make after the colossal financial failure of his predeceasing feature Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, that has plunged his production company into chaos and, has been levelled a string of sexual assault allegations against the famed director whose credits include Leon and The Fifth Element. Besson’s latest, on paper at least, is exactly what he needs to fight against in his dark corner of sexual aggression. Gaining back an audience’s trust while also generating a significant profit margin to secure a future for his production company. However with Anna, his latest, Besson fails on both fronts.
Luc Besson returns to cinema screens with his first, and presumably last, film he will be afforded to make after the colossal financial failure of his predeceasing feature Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, that has plunged his production company into chaos and, has been levelled a string of sexual assault allegations against the famed director whose credits include Leon and The Fifth Element. Besson’s latest, on paper at least, is exactly what he needs to fight against in his dark corner of sexual aggression. Gaining back an audience’s trust while also generating a significant profit margin to secure a future for his production company. However with Anna, his latest, Besson fails on both fronts.
- 11/4/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
Industry professionals get first look at new work.
Works in progress from Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Greece and Russia have won awards for the best pitches at the second edition of European Work in Progress during Film Festival Cologne.
The five winners were chosen on Tuesday (15) by an international jury consisting of Locarno Film Festival’s new artistic director Lili Hinstin, Zdf Enterprises’ director of acquisitions for feature films Margrit Stärk, Albanian producer Sabina Kodra, whose Erafilm was behind Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds), and Yohann Comte, co-founder of French sales company Charades.
The awards were presented at...
Works in progress from Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Greece and Russia have won awards for the best pitches at the second edition of European Work in Progress during Film Festival Cologne.
The five winners were chosen on Tuesday (15) by an international jury consisting of Locarno Film Festival’s new artistic director Lili Hinstin, Zdf Enterprises’ director of acquisitions for feature films Margrit Stärk, Albanian producer Sabina Kodra, whose Erafilm was behind Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds), and Yohann Comte, co-founder of French sales company Charades.
The awards were presented at...
- 10/16/2019
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
Rwanda-born writer Scholastique Mukasonga’s 2012 novel “Notre-Dame du Nil” is not specifically about the 1994 Rwandan genocide but rather how class division, colonialism and economic disparity created a toxic stew of resentment and prejudice that made the genocide possible. By using a Rwandan all-girls Catholic boarding school as her microcosm, she lays out how the seeds of ethnic hatred were planted, nurtured and encouraged to blossom. Still, any adaptation of Mukasonga’s book holds the promise of being that long-awaited great film about the country’s ethnic strife and how it exploded into a historic bloodbath that saw members of Rwanda’s Hutu majority slaughter 800,000 of their countrymen, mostly members of the Tutsi minority, in only three months.
If “Our Lady of the Nile” is ultimately not the definitive telling of the genocide, it is something equally valuable: the tragedy’s illuminative prequel, a straightforward origin story faithfully adapted from an essential text.
If “Our Lady of the Nile” is ultimately not the definitive telling of the genocide, it is something equally valuable: the tragedy’s illuminative prequel, a straightforward origin story faithfully adapted from an essential text.
- 9/6/2019
- by Mark Keizer
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Lera Abova, Alexander Petrov, Nikita Pavlenk, Anna Krippa, Aleksey Maslodudov, Eric Godon, Ivan Franek, Jean-Baptiste Puech, Adrian Can | Written and Directed by Luc Besson
Luc Besson returns to cinema screens with his first, and presumably last, film he will be afforded to make after the colossal financial failure of his predeceasing feature Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, that has plunged his production company into chaos and, has been levelled a string of sexual assault allegations against the famed director whose credits include Leon and The Fifth Element. Besson’s latest, on paper at least, is exactly what he needs to fight against in his dark corner of sexual aggression. Gaining back an audience’s trust while also generating a significant profit margin to secure a future for his production company. However with Anna, his latest, Besson fails on both fronts.
Luc Besson returns to cinema screens with his first, and presumably last, film he will be afforded to make after the colossal financial failure of his predeceasing feature Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, that has plunged his production company into chaos and, has been levelled a string of sexual assault allegations against the famed director whose credits include Leon and The Fifth Element. Besson’s latest, on paper at least, is exactly what he needs to fight against in his dark corner of sexual aggression. Gaining back an audience’s trust while also generating a significant profit margin to secure a future for his production company. However with Anna, his latest, Besson fails on both fronts.
- 7/10/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
Jean Reno in the thriller Cold Blood. Photo credit: Screen Media
French action star Jean Reno re-teams with Thierry Arbogast, the cinematographer on La Femme Nikita and,The Fifth Element, for action thriller Cold Blood. In this English-language French-Ukrainian film, Jean Reno plays a legendary hit man, the kind of role he has played well many times. With the help of cinematographer Arbogast, stunning locations, and a good supporting cast, they do their best to add style and suspense to this action thriller. Unfortunately, it is not enough to overcome the messy, nonsensical script.
Reno plays a retired hit man living in a remote cabin in Washington State when a young woman (Sara Lind), who has been injured in a snowmobile accident, suddenly turns up nearly on his doorstep. This begins a twisty tale built around the assassination of a mysterious billionaire, a tale of secrets, power, and money, with...
French action star Jean Reno re-teams with Thierry Arbogast, the cinematographer on La Femme Nikita and,The Fifth Element, for action thriller Cold Blood. In this English-language French-Ukrainian film, Jean Reno plays a legendary hit man, the kind of role he has played well many times. With the help of cinematographer Arbogast, stunning locations, and a good supporting cast, they do their best to add style and suspense to this action thriller. Unfortunately, it is not enough to overcome the messy, nonsensical script.
Reno plays a retired hit man living in a remote cabin in Washington State when a young woman (Sara Lind), who has been injured in a snowmobile accident, suddenly turns up nearly on his doorstep. This begins a twisty tale built around the assassination of a mysterious billionaire, a tale of secrets, power, and money, with...
- 7/8/2019
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The presence of Jean Reno in Cold Blood is undoubtedly meant to invoke memories of better movies like Leon: The Professional and Nikita. Sadly, that only exacerbates how poor this is. Cold Blood is a cliched and thoroughly mediocre action flick, trafficking almost exclusively in plot points we’ve seen done before, and better. Reno looks bored, the filmmaking is indifferent, and the 90 minute running time drags by. It’s the sort of project that you can’t figure out why it got the green light? Who wanted to see this? The folks involved barely seemed like they wanted to make it. It’s just an absolute slog to get though. The film is a mix of action, drama, and mystery, though it doesn’t do any of that particularly well. When a snowmobile crashes in a secluded area, a young woman (Sarah Lind) is hurt. Dragging herself away from the wreck,...
- 7/6/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
As the minutes slowly tick by in the lifeless thriller “Cold Blood,” it’s easy to mourn for what might have been. Jean Reno stars as Henry, a veteran hitman seeking isolation in a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest, which could have made for a contemplative and melancholy reimagining of his signature role in Luc Besson’s “Léon: The Professional.” When Henry is forced to care for a mysterious, injured woman who interrupts his solitude, one envisions a close-quarters psychological cat-and-mouse game between two dangerous and deeply secretive people. It turns out we get neither of those, just a bland and forgettable B-movie that came and went quickly in France last May and looks to do the same upon its day-and-date release in the U.S.
Reno, who turns 71 this month, hasn’t burned through the credibility he amassed with the cool kids during his long-ago career peak working with Besson.
Reno, who turns 71 this month, hasn’t burned through the credibility he amassed with the cool kids during his long-ago career peak working with Besson.
- 7/3/2019
- by Mark Keizer
- Variety Film + TV
“Anna,” the new thriller about a supermodel who’s also a Russian assassin, is a film with many, many wigs. Long wigs, short wigs, red wigs, silver wigs. The film’s star, Sasha Luss, wears so many wigs throughout this movie that you may very well delight in counting them all. It’s probably the most entertainment you’ll get out of this flimsy “La Femme Nikita” knockoff.
Writer-director Luc Besson, who also wrote and directed “La Femme Nikita” almost 30 years ago, once again tells the story of a troubled young woman, addicted to drugs and incredibly violent, who gets pulled into the world of espionage after a robbery gone wrong, by an agent with whom she forms a romantic attraction. Once again, her first assignment is a dangerous hit that takes place in a crowded restaurant, which goes completely awry on purpose, and once again, she discovers that the...
Writer-director Luc Besson, who also wrote and directed “La Femme Nikita” almost 30 years ago, once again tells the story of a troubled young woman, addicted to drugs and incredibly violent, who gets pulled into the world of espionage after a robbery gone wrong, by an agent with whom she forms a romantic attraction. Once again, her first assignment is a dangerous hit that takes place in a crowded restaurant, which goes completely awry on purpose, and once again, she discovers that the...
- 6/21/2019
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
Not so much reprising a famed role as he is tiredly schlepping it back up onscreen, Jean Reno once again plays a hitman — and one who really should retire by now — in French director Frédéric Petitjean’s generic English-language thriller, Cold Blood Legacy.
Well-shot (by Luc Besson regular Thierry Arbogast) but otherwise entirely forgettable, this tale of a hired gun crossing paths with a female fugitive is a dumbed and watered-down version of better, similar movies Reno has done before, especially Besson favorites like La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Released theatrically by Paramount in France, where the ...
Well-shot (by Luc Besson regular Thierry Arbogast) but otherwise entirely forgettable, this tale of a hired gun crossing paths with a female fugitive is a dumbed and watered-down version of better, similar movies Reno has done before, especially Besson favorites like La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Released theatrically by Paramount in France, where the ...
- 5/22/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Not so much reprising a famed role as he is tiredly schlepping it back up onscreen, Jean Reno once again plays a hitman — and one who really should retire by now — in French director Frédéric Petitjean’s generic English-language thriller, Cold Blood Legacy.
Well-shot (by Luc Besson regular Thierry Arbogast) but otherwise entirely forgettable, this tale of a hired gun crossing paths with a female fugitive is a dumbed and watered-down version of better, similar movies Reno has done before, especially Besson favorites like La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Released theatrically by Paramount in France, where the ...
Well-shot (by Luc Besson regular Thierry Arbogast) but otherwise entirely forgettable, this tale of a hired gun crossing paths with a female fugitive is a dumbed and watered-down version of better, similar movies Reno has done before, especially Besson favorites like La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Released theatrically by Paramount in France, where the ...
- 5/22/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes — Hong Kong’s Star Alliance Movies has pounced on all rights to China on “Blast,” a race against the clock thriller that marks the first full production from Wide, Loic Magneron’s Paris-based sales-production-distribution company.
The deal, made against a background of slowing sales to China, represents the first pre-sale on “Blast,” which is now in post-production.
Billed as an “electrifying thriller” “with an amazing cast and credits” – the film is lensed, for instance, by Luc Besson cinematographer Thierry Arbogast -“Blast” turns on a young mother, Sonia, a bomb disposal expert just back from a mission in the Ukraine, trapped in her car with son and the daughter of her boyfriend Fred, who is left outside, powerless to deal with the situation. Colleagues Igor and Camille, hurry to the scene. With Sonia and Fred have 30 minutes to diffuse the bomb and work out who could behind the attack.
The deal, made against a background of slowing sales to China, represents the first pre-sale on “Blast,” which is now in post-production.
Billed as an “electrifying thriller” “with an amazing cast and credits” – the film is lensed, for instance, by Luc Besson cinematographer Thierry Arbogast -“Blast” turns on a young mother, Sonia, a bomb disposal expert just back from a mission in the Ukraine, trapped in her car with son and the daughter of her boyfriend Fred, who is left outside, powerless to deal with the situation. Colleagues Igor and Camille, hurry to the scene. With Sonia and Fred have 30 minutes to diffuse the bomb and work out who could behind the attack.
- 5/20/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes — Loic Magneron’s Paris-based Wide, a production-distribution boutique, has acquired international sales rights to “Il Signor Diavalo,” the latest -and 40th – feature from Italian horror icon Papi Avati,
Avati is best known for 1976’s “The House with Laughing Windows” and 1983’s “Zeder” which crowned him as a master of Italian giallo horror-thriller cinema.
Starring Gabriel Lo Giudice and Alessandro Haber, produced by Duea Films and Rai Cinema, and framed as a tribute to horror classics from the ‘70s and ‘80s, “Il Signor Daivalo” adapts Avati’s own novel. Set in 1950s Italy, it turns on a 14-year-old boy, Carlo, who kills Emilio, a special needs ward of the local priest. “Il Signor Diavalo” asks why. It receives a Cannes Film Market screening on Sunday.
A well-known sales agent, Wide has moved into production. It is bringing two own productions onto the Cannes market: “Negative Numbers,” which receives a private market screening,...
Avati is best known for 1976’s “The House with Laughing Windows” and 1983’s “Zeder” which crowned him as a master of Italian giallo horror-thriller cinema.
Starring Gabriel Lo Giudice and Alessandro Haber, produced by Duea Films and Rai Cinema, and framed as a tribute to horror classics from the ‘70s and ‘80s, “Il Signor Daivalo” adapts Avati’s own novel. Set in 1950s Italy, it turns on a 14-year-old boy, Carlo, who kills Emilio, a special needs ward of the local priest. “Il Signor Diavalo” asks why. It receives a Cannes Film Market screening on Sunday.
A well-known sales agent, Wide has moved into production. It is bringing two own productions onto the Cannes market: “Negative Numbers,” which receives a private market screening,...
- 5/18/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired Atiq Rahimi’s “Our Lady of the Nile” (“Notre-Dame du Nil”), the Kabul-born novelist-turned-director’s follow up to the “The Patience Stone.”
“Our Lady of the Nile” is adapted for the screen by Rahimi and Ramata Sy from the award-winning novel by Scholastique Mukasonga and unfolds in Rwanda in 1973.
Pic takes place at a prestigious and secluded Catholic boarding school, where the girls, an ethnic mix of majority Hutus and only 10% Tutsis, are groomed to be the Rwandan elite. But some deep-seated antagonism between the groups begins to arise at the school as well as throughout the country.
Now in post, “Our Lady of the Nile” is produced by Dimitri Rassam at Chapter 2 and Les Films du Tambour (“Sibel”).
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ co-founder, said the “script depicts in a very vibrant and heartbreaking way the birth of the dramatic events that occurred between Hutus and Tutsis 21 years later.
“Our Lady of the Nile” is adapted for the screen by Rahimi and Ramata Sy from the award-winning novel by Scholastique Mukasonga and unfolds in Rwanda in 1973.
Pic takes place at a prestigious and secluded Catholic boarding school, where the girls, an ethnic mix of majority Hutus and only 10% Tutsis, are groomed to be the Rwandan elite. But some deep-seated antagonism between the groups begins to arise at the school as well as throughout the country.
Now in post, “Our Lady of the Nile” is produced by Dimitri Rassam at Chapter 2 and Les Films du Tambour (“Sibel”).
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ co-founder, said the “script depicts in a very vibrant and heartbreaking way the birth of the dramatic events that occurred between Hutus and Tutsis 21 years later.
- 2/7/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
November 1
– Kino Lorber announces has acquired North American rights to Lila Avilés’s debut feature, “The Chambermaid.”The film recently won Best Picture at the Morelia International Film Festival, along with the Warrior of the Press award, and world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. It will have its U.S. premiere on Saturday, November 10 at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, before a national theatrical release in summer of 2019.
“The Chambermaid” follows “Eve, a young chambermaid working in one of the most luxurious hotels in Mexico City, an exclusive glass tower inhabited by guests so wealthy she can only imagine their lives through intimate fantasies of the belongings they’ve left behind. Long, laborious shifts prevent Eve from caring for her child while she helps guests with their own children, but she believes her situation will improve if she gets promoted to work at executive-level suites, for...
– Kino Lorber announces has acquired North American rights to Lila Avilés’s debut feature, “The Chambermaid.”The film recently won Best Picture at the Morelia International Film Festival, along with the Warrior of the Press award, and world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. It will have its U.S. premiere on Saturday, November 10 at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, before a national theatrical release in summer of 2019.
“The Chambermaid” follows “Eve, a young chambermaid working in one of the most luxurious hotels in Mexico City, an exclusive glass tower inhabited by guests so wealthy she can only imagine their lives through intimate fantasies of the belongings they’ve left behind. Long, laborious shifts prevent Eve from caring for her child while she helps guests with their own children, but she believes her situation will improve if she gets promoted to work at executive-level suites, for...
- 11/1/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The bigger the budget, the safer a film usually ends up playing things. It’s rare that anything approaching blockbuster status feels risky or revolutionary. Most of the time, big time summer fare especially feels as generic and safe as possible. Every so often though, a release hits that has a huge budget and yet also seems like a gigantic dare. This week, something of that sort hits screens in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The movie hopes to create a brand new cinematic world, one that will capture your attention. Whether it does or not remains to be seen, but the ambition is certainly there. Science fiction fans may very well eat it up. Time will tell. At the very least, it’s a July release that will stand out from the pack, by and large. The film is an adaptation of the French comic book...
- 7/19/2017
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Relax, it’s for an adaptation of ‘Fahrenheit 451’
Seems like every day 2017 looks a little more like a dystopic novel: civil disorder, totalitarian rulers, an increase in military spending at the expense of social and cultural programs, Teen Wolf got cancelled; bottom line, it’s pretty dour out there.
Unless you’re the author of one of these dystopic novels, like Brave New World, 1984, or The Handmaid’s Tale, then you’re having the best sales of your career thanks to the teeming masses trying to adjust to the New World Order.
HBO’s looking to capitalize on this unrest by adapting the other really famous dystopic novel — Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, about a future where books are outlawed — into a movie, and now they’ve got their stars. Oscar-nominee and general badass Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals) will be playing Beatty, chief of the firemen who burn books, and...
Seems like every day 2017 looks a little more like a dystopic novel: civil disorder, totalitarian rulers, an increase in military spending at the expense of social and cultural programs, Teen Wolf got cancelled; bottom line, it’s pretty dour out there.
Unless you’re the author of one of these dystopic novels, like Brave New World, 1984, or The Handmaid’s Tale, then you’re having the best sales of your career thanks to the teeming masses trying to adjust to the New World Order.
HBO’s looking to capitalize on this unrest by adapting the other really famous dystopic novel — Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, about a future where books are outlawed — into a movie, and now they’ve got their stars. Oscar-nominee and general badass Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals) will be playing Beatty, chief of the firemen who burn books, and...
- 4/20/2017
- by H. Perry Horton
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
A Child is Waiting: Delpy’s Return to RomCom a Mixed Bag
Julie Delpy has managed to balance a terrific (and prolific) career as an actress and director, breaking out over the past decade as a pragmatic purveyor of romantic entanglements thanks to her twin titles 2 Days in Paris (2007) and 2 Days in New York (2012). Although The Countess (2008), her curious English language examination of the bloodthirsty historical figure Countess Bathory was unfortunately belabored, her tendency to portray complex romantic scenarios masquerading as fluff has proven to be her overarching strength. Which is exactly why her latest, Lolo, a sometimes pleasant endeavor, feels like more of a crass disappointment than it really is. Examining an overworked single mother’s attempt to rediscover romance despite the secret sabotage of her spoiled adult child, the narrative’s dependence on familiar tropes, not to mention the neglect of its central romance, bears remarkable similarity...
Julie Delpy has managed to balance a terrific (and prolific) career as an actress and director, breaking out over the past decade as a pragmatic purveyor of romantic entanglements thanks to her twin titles 2 Days in Paris (2007) and 2 Days in New York (2012). Although The Countess (2008), her curious English language examination of the bloodthirsty historical figure Countess Bathory was unfortunately belabored, her tendency to portray complex romantic scenarios masquerading as fluff has proven to be her overarching strength. Which is exactly why her latest, Lolo, a sometimes pleasant endeavor, feels like more of a crass disappointment than it really is. Examining an overworked single mother’s attempt to rediscover romance despite the secret sabotage of her spoiled adult child, the narrative’s dependence on familiar tropes, not to mention the neglect of its central romance, bears remarkable similarity...
- 3/12/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Olias Barco shooting Polina with international cast.
Ukraine’s reputation as a location for international shoots has been given a welcome boost this week as production begins on the English-language family adventure-fantasy Polina by the French-Belgian director Olias Barco (Kill Me Please) in Kyiv.
The cast of the co-production between the Belgian-French company Wild Tribe Films and Ukraine’s Film.UA features an international cast including German-born Canadian actor Saul Rubinek, Audrey Marnay (The Monuments Men), Virgile Bramly (Inception), Wim Willaert (When The Sea Rises), Daniel Cohen (Le Chef) and Severija Janusauskaite (The Star), with the French DoP Thierry Arbogast, known for his collaboration with Luc Besson on such films as The Fifth Element and Lucy, behind the camera.
Ukrainian child actor Polina Pechenenko is cast in the title role as a 11-year-old girl setting off on a magical journey in search of the truth about her lost parents.
Shooting is located at the Film.UA studios...
Ukraine’s reputation as a location for international shoots has been given a welcome boost this week as production begins on the English-language family adventure-fantasy Polina by the French-Belgian director Olias Barco (Kill Me Please) in Kyiv.
The cast of the co-production between the Belgian-French company Wild Tribe Films and Ukraine’s Film.UA features an international cast including German-born Canadian actor Saul Rubinek, Audrey Marnay (The Monuments Men), Virgile Bramly (Inception), Wim Willaert (When The Sea Rises), Daniel Cohen (Le Chef) and Severija Janusauskaite (The Star), with the French DoP Thierry Arbogast, known for his collaboration with Luc Besson on such films as The Fifth Element and Lucy, behind the camera.
Ukrainian child actor Polina Pechenenko is cast in the title role as a 11-year-old girl setting off on a magical journey in search of the truth about her lost parents.
Shooting is located at the Film.UA studios...
- 11/5/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
How can a film exist somewhere between being an ambitious Hollywood oddity and a wacky hot mess of a film? Days after seeing Luc Besson’s new film Lucy I’m still trying to figure this out. Going into a Besson film you have to expect a strong female-centered action-fest. The French director has made a career of this going back to La Femme Nikita, to The Fifth Element, all the way to his more recent Indiana Jones and Allan Quatermain inspired period piece The Extraordinary Adventure Of Adele Blanc-sec (which exists relatively unnoticed and is worth checking out if you’re a fan of pulp adventure stories). However Lucy kind of exists in a different conversation than these previously mentioned films for a lot of reasons. First of all, despite her stunning features, Johansson’s Lucy is nowhere near as memorable as some of the leads in these other films.
- 7/25/2014
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the dark action comedy The Family, a Mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the Witness Protection Program after snitching on the mob. Despite Agent Stansfield’s (Tommy Lee Jones) best efforts to keep them in line, Fred Blake (Robert De Niro), his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their children, Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo), can’t help resorting to old habits by handling their problems the “family” way. Chaos ensues as their former Mafia cronies try to track them down and scores are settled in the unlikeliest of settings, in this subversively funny film by Luc Besson.
The Family stars Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull, Silver Linings Playbook), and Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln, No Country for Old Men), Academy Award nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, The Fabulous Baker Boys), Dianna Agron (“Glee,” I Am Number Four...
The Family stars Academy Award® winners Robert De Niro (Raging Bull, Silver Linings Playbook), and Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln, No Country for Old Men), Academy Award nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, The Fabulous Baker Boys), Dianna Agron (“Glee,” I Am Number Four...
- 9/5/2013
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Director Luc Besson and actress Louise Bourgoin discuss how they brought Adele Blanc-Sec to the big screen.
Visionary director Luc Besson (Leon, The Fifth Element) brings his unique style to the big-screen adaptation of Jacques Tardi's acclaimed comic book, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec. Louise Bourgoin plays the title character, and in a recent Q&A, the director and actress discussed the film.
Luc Besson Q&A
Q: Tell us about how you met Jacques Tardi.
Besson: It's a long story. I first fell in love with his heroine, Adèle, about ten years ago. I tried to contact Tardi, but unfortunately he had agreed to do Adèle with another director. At the time, I was a bit saddened, but pleased that he had chosen a "great" director and wished him the best of luck. I waited impatiently to see the movie, which never came out. After three or four years,...
Visionary director Luc Besson (Leon, The Fifth Element) brings his unique style to the big-screen adaptation of Jacques Tardi's acclaimed comic book, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec. Louise Bourgoin plays the title character, and in a recent Q&A, the director and actress discussed the film.
Luc Besson Q&A
Q: Tell us about how you met Jacques Tardi.
Besson: It's a long story. I first fell in love with his heroine, Adèle, about ten years ago. I tried to contact Tardi, but unfortunately he had agreed to do Adèle with another director. At the time, I was a bit saddened, but pleased that he had chosen a "great" director and wished him the best of luck. I waited impatiently to see the movie, which never came out. After three or four years,...
- 8/23/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Victor Medina)
- Cinelinx
French based Afghan novelist turned director Atiq Rahimi adapted his second novel for the screen which puts him in a small circle of authors adapting their own material twice….from book form to the big screen. Set during an unspecified era, a young Afghan woman finds solace in her own comatose husband whom she imagines as her own magical stone that she can tell her secrets and desires. Rahimi who won the highest literature prize in France for his novel, the Prix Goncourt adapted his novel with legendary writer Jean-Claude Carrière helping him to open the mostly monologue driven novel for cinematic interpretation. Rahimi who also adapted his first novel “Earth and Ashes” for the screen, makes for a stronger case his second time out. With The Patience Stone, he cuts deep into the hypocrisy of the male dominated Afghan culture to shed light on the plight of Afghan women...
- 8/16/2013
- by Yama Rahimi
- IONCINEMA.com
Relativity Media would like to introduce you to The Family with five brand new character posters.
Luc Besson’s new dark action comedy stars Robert De Niro as a killer dad, Michelle Pfeiffer as one bad mother, Dianna Agron as the mobgirl next door and John D’Leo as the young gun.
Also starring Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Stansfield, The Family hits theaters on September 13th.
In the dark action comedy The Family, a Mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the Witness Protection Program after snitching on the mob. Despite Agent Stansfield’s (Tommy Lee Jones) best efforts to keep them in line, Fred Blake (Robert De Niro), his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their children, Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo), can’t help resorting to old habits by handling their problems the “family” way.
Chaos ensues as...
Luc Besson’s new dark action comedy stars Robert De Niro as a killer dad, Michelle Pfeiffer as one bad mother, Dianna Agron as the mobgirl next door and John D’Leo as the young gun.
Also starring Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Stansfield, The Family hits theaters on September 13th.
In the dark action comedy The Family, a Mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the Witness Protection Program after snitching on the mob. Despite Agent Stansfield’s (Tommy Lee Jones) best efforts to keep them in line, Fred Blake (Robert De Niro), his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their children, Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo), can’t help resorting to old habits by handling their problems the “family” way.
Chaos ensues as...
- 8/6/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It appears that the cast for this as of yet Untitled Thriller Project, directed by McG, has been rounded up and that production has also started. If judging by the press release, I think I’ll be looking forward to this one. Here, take a look at the press release yourself and tell us what you think:
(Beverly Hills, Calif.) January 7, 2013 – EuropaCorp and Relativity Media have closed deals with Amber Heard (The Rum Diary, Paranoia), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) for their Untitled Thriller project starring previously announced Oscar®-winner Kevin Costner (The Bodyguard, Dances With Wolves, Open Range). McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) directs the gripping action tale from a screenplay by Luc Besson (Taken, Transporter) and Adi Hasak (From Paris With Love). The film is currently in production in Paris and will continue in Serbia, where it will wrap on April 22nd.
Collaborating with...
(Beverly Hills, Calif.) January 7, 2013 – EuropaCorp and Relativity Media have closed deals with Amber Heard (The Rum Diary, Paranoia), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) for their Untitled Thriller project starring previously announced Oscar®-winner Kevin Costner (The Bodyguard, Dances With Wolves, Open Range). McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) directs the gripping action tale from a screenplay by Luc Besson (Taken, Transporter) and Adi Hasak (From Paris With Love). The film is currently in production in Paris and will continue in Serbia, where it will wrap on April 22nd.
Collaborating with...
- 1/10/2013
- by Vesna Sunrider
- Filmofilia
Here’s a new behind-the scenes image from the upcoming dark comedy/action film, “Malavita,” which began filming in August. The comedic actioner, “Malavita,” is directed by Luc Besson (“Taken,” “Transporter”) and starring Oscar®-Winner Robert De Niro (“Limitless,” “Heat”), Oscar®-Nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (“Dark Shadows,” “People Like Us”), Oscar®-Winner Tommy Lee Jones (“No Country For Old Men,” “Men in Black”), Dianna Agron (“Glee,” “I Am Number Four”) and John D’Leo (“The Wrestler,” “Wanderlust”). Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Thierry Arbogast (“The Fifth Element”), production designer Hugues Tissandier (“Taken”), sound editor Ken Yasumoto (“The Transporter”), costume designer Olivier Bériot (“Taken”) and editor Julien Rey [ Read More ]
The post New Image From Action Film Malavita appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post New Image From Action Film Malavita appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/5/2012
- by monique
- ShockYa
Principal photography begins today on EuropaCorp and Relativity.s comedic actioner Malavita directed by Luc Besson (Taken, Transporter) and starring Oscar®-Winner Robert De Niro (Limitless, Heat), Oscar®-Nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (Dark Shadows, People Like Us), Oscar®-Winner Tommy Lee Jones (No Country For Old Men, Men in Black), Dianna Agron (Glee, I Am Number Four) and John D.Leo (The Wrestler, Wanderlust).
Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Thierry Arbogast (The Fifth Element), production designer Hugues Tissandier (Taken), sound editor Ken Yasumoto (The Transporter), costume designer Olivier Bériot (Taken) and editor Julien Rey (The Lady).
The darkly comedic action film Malavita is the story of the Manzonis, a notorious mafia family who gets relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program. While they do their best to fit in, old habits die hard and they soon find themselves handling things the .family. way.
Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Thierry Arbogast (The Fifth Element), production designer Hugues Tissandier (Taken), sound editor Ken Yasumoto (The Transporter), costume designer Olivier Bériot (Taken) and editor Julien Rey (The Lady).
The darkly comedic action film Malavita is the story of the Manzonis, a notorious mafia family who gets relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program. While they do their best to fit in, old habits die hard and they soon find themselves handling things the .family. way.
- 8/8/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Principal photography for EuropaCorp and Relativity’s comedic action movie Malavita began today. The film is directed by Luc Besson (“Taken,” “Transporter”) and starring Oscar®-Winner Robert De Niro (“Limitless,” “Heat”), Oscar®-Nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (“Dark Shadows,” “People Like Us”), Oscar®-Winner Tommy Lee Jones (“No Country For Old Men,” “Men in Black”), Dianna Agron (“Glee,” “I Am Number Four”) and John D’Leo (“The Wrestler,” “Wanderlust”). Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes is a creative below-the-line team including: director of photography Thierry Arbogast (“The Fifth Element”), production designer Hugues Tissandier (“Taken”), sound editor Ken Yasumoto (“The Transporter”), costume designer Olivier Bériot (“Taken”) and editor Julien Rey (“The Lady”). The darkly comedic action film “Malavita” [ Read More ]...
- 8/8/2012
- by monique
- ShockYa
Principal photography begins today on EuropaCorp and Relativity's action-comedy Malavita , directed by Luc Besson ( Taken , Transporter , The Fifth Element ) and starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron and John D'Leo. Collaborating with Besson behind the scenes are director of photography Thierry Arbogast (Bes The Fifth Element ), production designer Hugues Tissandier ( Taken ), sound editor Ken Yasumoto ( The Transporter ), costume designer Olivier Bériot ( Taken ) and editor Julien Rey ( The Lady ). Malavita is the story of the Manzonis, a notorious mafia family who gets relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program. While they do their best to fit in, old habits die hard and they soon find themselves handling things...
- 8/8/2012
- Comingsoon.net
Screened at the 2012 Terracotta Far East Film Festival. “Inseparable” is somewhat of a landmark event, being one of the first Chinese films to feature a bona fide Hollywood star in a lead role. The actor in question is Kevin Spacey, who shares top billing with top Chinese talent Daniel Wu (recently in “Don’t Go Breaking my Heart” and “Overheard 2”) and actress Beibi Gong (“The Detective 2”, “Connected”). The film was directed by Dayyan Eng, known for the romantic comedy “Waiting Alone” and the shorts “Bus 44” and “East 22nd Street”, and has a further international flavour thanks to the presence of cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, a long time collaborator of Luc Besson, having worked with him on the likes of “Leon”, “The Fifth Element” and “The Lady”. Daniel Wu plays Li, a young man who works as an artificial limbs designer and who is going through a difficult time, his parents having died in a car crash,...
- 4/20/2012
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
The Dardenne bros. have grabbed Cecile de France for an untitled drama that narratively resembles some of their previous efforts, and before Emir Kusturica teams with Johnny Depp on Pancho Villa, he'll direct Cool Water - a comedy, road movie that will tap into some of the zany scenarios that Kusturica is best know for... - Wild Bunch will come to Cannes packing a half dozen competition films, but they've got a huge slate of films to sell and two noteworthy titles have been added to their crop. The Dardenne bros. have grabbed Cecile de France for an untitled drama that narratively resembles some of their previous efforts, and before Emir Kusturica teams with Johnny Depp on Pancho Villa, he'll direct Cool Water - a comedy, road movie that will tap into some of the zany scenarios that Kusturica is best know for, but as chance might have it -...
- 5/6/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Wild Bunch will come to Cannes packing a half dozen competition films, but they've got a huge slate of films to sell and two noteworthy titles have been added to their crop. The Dardenne bros. have grabbed Cecile de France for an untitled drama that narratively resembles some of their previous efforts, and before Emir Kusturica teams with Johnny Depp on Pancho Villa, he'll direct Cool Water - a comedy, road movie that will tap into some of the zany scenarios that Kusturica is best know for, but as chance might have it - will be the first time that the Serbian helmer works from someone else's script. Both projects count as early Cannes 2011 predictions - as they are both going to be lensed this summer. Cool Water is based on Gabriel Bornstein’s script, this is being billed as a road movie with a twist. Two Palestinian brothers must...
- 5/5/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
This review was written for the festival screening of "Angel-A".PARK CITY -- Treading awkwardly on the wings of such guardian angel classics as "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", Luc Besson's foray into oddball romance territory is a visually striking but aurally vapid shrug-inducer.
"Angel-A" finds Besson and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast setting out to do for Paris what Woody Allen and his cinematographer Gordon Willis did for Manhattan, and they succeed in capturing the city in sunlight-bathed, lustrous blacks and whites reminiscent of photos from vintage '50s and '60s magazine layouts.
But this would-be Paris match-made-in-heaven proves to be less than idyllic thanks to the banal dialogue and self-consciously idiosyncratic performances.
Screened in the out-of-competition Sundance Spectrum section, the instantly forgettable film will be released domestically through Sony Pictures Classics.
Meet Andre (Jamel Debbouze), a pipsqueak of a conman who's up to his eyeballs in debt and is running out of places to hide from his very unhappy creditors.
With nowhere else to turn, he finds himself peering down into the abyss -- in the case, the icy Seine -- from the edge of a bridge. He soon realizes he's not alone, and taking the plunge ahead of him is the decidedly long and leggy Angela (Rie Rasmussen).
It turns out the jumper is actually an angel sent from above to help Andre in the self-worth department, but at some point in their ensuing wacky exploits, she commits the cardinal angel no-no of actually falling for her mortal assignment.
While Rasmussen and Debbouze definitely make for an odd couple, Besson's script has them saying and doing things that are constantly hitting comedic sour notes, broadly missing the element of quirky charm necessary for them to click with an audience. As a result, the dreaded ennui begins creeping in early on in the proceedings, and despite the considerable assist of those gossamer monochromatic visuals, "Angel-A" (get it?) never takes flight.
ANGEL-A
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Luc Besson; Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast; Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir; Editor: Frederic Thoraval; Costume designer: Martine Rapin; Music: Anja Garbarek.
Cast:
Andre: Jamel Debbouze
Angela: Rie Rasmussen
Franck: Gilbert Melki
Pedro: Serge Riaboukine
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Angel-A" finds Besson and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast setting out to do for Paris what Woody Allen and his cinematographer Gordon Willis did for Manhattan, and they succeed in capturing the city in sunlight-bathed, lustrous blacks and whites reminiscent of photos from vintage '50s and '60s magazine layouts.
But this would-be Paris match-made-in-heaven proves to be less than idyllic thanks to the banal dialogue and self-consciously idiosyncratic performances.
Screened in the out-of-competition Sundance Spectrum section, the instantly forgettable film will be released domestically through Sony Pictures Classics.
Meet Andre (Jamel Debbouze), a pipsqueak of a conman who's up to his eyeballs in debt and is running out of places to hide from his very unhappy creditors.
With nowhere else to turn, he finds himself peering down into the abyss -- in the case, the icy Seine -- from the edge of a bridge. He soon realizes he's not alone, and taking the plunge ahead of him is the decidedly long and leggy Angela (Rie Rasmussen).
It turns out the jumper is actually an angel sent from above to help Andre in the self-worth department, but at some point in their ensuing wacky exploits, she commits the cardinal angel no-no of actually falling for her mortal assignment.
While Rasmussen and Debbouze definitely make for an odd couple, Besson's script has them saying and doing things that are constantly hitting comedic sour notes, broadly missing the element of quirky charm necessary for them to click with an audience. As a result, the dreaded ennui begins creeping in early on in the proceedings, and despite the considerable assist of those gossamer monochromatic visuals, "Angel-A" (get it?) never takes flight.
ANGEL-A
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Luc Besson; Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast; Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir; Editor: Frederic Thoraval; Costume designer: Martine Rapin; Music: Anja Garbarek.
Cast:
Andre: Jamel Debbouze
Angela: Rie Rasmussen
Franck: Gilbert Melki
Pedro: Serge Riaboukine
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- Treading awkwardly on the wings of such guardian angel classics as "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", Luc Besson's foray into oddball romance territory is a visually striking but aurally vapid shrug-inducer.
"Angel-A" finds Besson and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast setting out to do for Paris what Woody Allen and his cinematographer Gordon Willis did for Manhattan, and they succeed in capturing the city in sunlight-bathed, lustrous blacks and whites reminiscent of photos from vintage '50s and '60s magazine layouts.
But this would-be Paris match-made-in-heaven proves to be less than idyllic thanks to the banal dialogue and self-consciously idiosyncratic performances.
Screened in the out-of-competition Sundance Spectrum section, the instantly forgettable film will be released domestically through Sony Pictures Classics.
Meet Andre (Jamel Debbouze), a pipsqueak of a conman who's up to his eyeballs in debt and is running out of places to hide from his very unhappy creditors.
With nowhere else to turn, he finds himself peering down into the abyss -- in the case, the icy Seine -- from the edge of a bridge. He soon realizes he's not alone, and taking the plunge ahead of him is the decidedly long and leggy Angela (Rie Rasmussen).
It turns out the jumper is actually an angel sent from above to help Andre in the self-worth department, but at some point in their ensuing wacky exploits, she commits the cardinal angel no-no of actually falling for her mortal assignment.
While Rasmussen and Debbouze definitely make for an odd couple, Besson's script has them saying and doing things that are constantly hitting comedic sour notes, broadly missing the element of quirky charm necessary for them to click with an audience. As a result, the dreaded ennui begins creeping in early on in the proceedings, and despite the considerable assist of those gossamer monochromatic visuals, "Angel-A" (get it?) never takes flight.
Angel-A
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Luc Besson; Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast; Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir; Editor: Frederic Thoraval; Costume designer: Martine Rapin; Music: Anja Garbarek.
Cast:
Andre: Jamel Debbouze; Angela: Rie Rasmussen; Franck: Gilbert Melki; Pedro: Serge Riaboukine.
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated, running time 91 minutes...
"Angel-A" finds Besson and cinematographer Thierry Arbogast setting out to do for Paris what Woody Allen and his cinematographer Gordon Willis did for Manhattan, and they succeed in capturing the city in sunlight-bathed, lustrous blacks and whites reminiscent of photos from vintage '50s and '60s magazine layouts.
But this would-be Paris match-made-in-heaven proves to be less than idyllic thanks to the banal dialogue and self-consciously idiosyncratic performances.
Screened in the out-of-competition Sundance Spectrum section, the instantly forgettable film will be released domestically through Sony Pictures Classics.
Meet Andre (Jamel Debbouze), a pipsqueak of a conman who's up to his eyeballs in debt and is running out of places to hide from his very unhappy creditors.
With nowhere else to turn, he finds himself peering down into the abyss -- in the case, the icy Seine -- from the edge of a bridge. He soon realizes he's not alone, and taking the plunge ahead of him is the decidedly long and leggy Angela (Rie Rasmussen).
It turns out the jumper is actually an angel sent from above to help Andre in the self-worth department, but at some point in their ensuing wacky exploits, she commits the cardinal angel no-no of actually falling for her mortal assignment.
While Rasmussen and Debbouze definitely make for an odd couple, Besson's script has them saying and doing things that are constantly hitting comedic sour notes, broadly missing the element of quirky charm necessary for them to click with an audience. As a result, the dreaded ennui begins creeping in early on in the proceedings, and despite the considerable assist of those gossamer monochromatic visuals, "Angel-A" (get it?) never takes flight.
Angel-A
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Luc Besson; Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast; Production designer: Jacques Bufnoir; Editor: Frederic Thoraval; Costume designer: Martine Rapin; Music: Anja Garbarek.
Cast:
Andre: Jamel Debbouze; Angela: Rie Rasmussen; Franck: Gilbert Melki; Pedro: Serge Riaboukine.
MPAA Rating: Not yet rated, running time 91 minutes...
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For his children's fantasy Arthur and the Invisibles, writer-director Luc Besson appears to have grabbed bits of this and that from a number of fairy tales, tossed them into a blender and hoped for a family adventure. The result isn't an unpalatable pudding but rather a fair-to-middling children's film that is half CG-animation and half live-action. Adults may shake their heads at the blatant borrowings from the King Arthur legend and The Wizard of Oz to the 1980s comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but many youngsters will enjoy the ride.
The film will also supply the answer at some future date to the barroom challenge: What 2006 movie starred Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dogg? The trick is that these singer-actors do not appear in this movie but perform the voices of several of the tiny CG beings who live in the hero's backyard.
The decision by MGM and the Weinsteins to move the national release of Arthur to Jan. 12 is odd, since it will miss the holidays when the film's biggest audience is out of school. This does avoid head-to-head competition with "Charlotte's Web," though, so perhaps the film will have the playing field more to itself.
Besson's story is based on his own children's book, Arthur and the Minimoys, which he adapted in a screenplay written with visual artist Celine Garcia. Young Arthur (Freddie Highmore of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") lives on a Connecticut homestead with his grandmother (Mia Farrow) and pet dog. Life is good, but he does suffer from neglect by his parents, wage slaves in a distant city.
His vivid fantasy life is fueled by tales of his grandfather, who mysteriously disappeared awhile back. In deepest Africa, granddad made friends with a jungle tribe of huge proportions and, conversely, the Minimoys, a tribe of tiny creatures.
An evil real estate developer will foreclose on the grandmother's property in 48 hours unless she can come up with a king's ransom. Arthur's rescue plan sends him searching for African rubies his granddad buried in the yard. A treasure map, conveniently discovered in a nick of time, instructs Arthur to miniaturize himself by passing through a telescope into the land of the Minimoys, inch-tall creatures who inhabit the backyard.
Here, insects assume huge sizes, and good and evil are locked in constant warfare. There is a good king, a villain whose name no one dares speak, a rastaman named Max (Snoop) and a princess (Madonna). He falls in love with the tiny princess and must travel with her and her younger brother toward the center of power for the evil Maltazard (Bowie) and the place where he believes his grandfather is a prisoner. All this is done as a cartoon, but even so, the idea of Madonna coming on to a 10-year-old boy is a bit weird.
The action and derring-do are exciting, but Besson drags things out considerably for his young audience at 122 minutes. The CG work is clever but cannot measure up to Pixar's standards in cleverness or imagination. Nothing is fresh here. Nevertheless, Besson's tech crew and visual effects overseers make the two worlds meld quite well.
ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES
MGM
The Weinstein Co. presents an Europa Corp./Avalanche Prods./Sofica Europacorp/Apipoulai production
Credits:
Director: Luc Besson
Screenwriters: Luc Besson, Celine Garcia
Based on the book by: Luc Besson
Producers: Luc Besson, Emmanuel Prevost
Directors of photography: Thierry Arbogast, Dominique Delguste
Production designer: Hugues Tissandier
Music: Eric Serra
Special effects: Dominique Vidal
Costume designer: Patrice Garcia
Cast:
Arthur: Freddie Highmore
Grandmother: Mia Farrow
Voice of Princess Selenia: Madonna
Voice of Maltazard: David Bowie
Voice of Max: Snoop Dogg
Mother: Penny Balfour
Father: Doug Rand
Voice of the King: Robert De Niro
Voice of Miro: Harvey Keitel
Voice of the travel agent: Chazz Palminteri
Voice of Ferryman: Emilio Estevez.
Running time -- 122 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
The film will also supply the answer at some future date to the barroom challenge: What 2006 movie starred Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dogg? The trick is that these singer-actors do not appear in this movie but perform the voices of several of the tiny CG beings who live in the hero's backyard.
The decision by MGM and the Weinsteins to move the national release of Arthur to Jan. 12 is odd, since it will miss the holidays when the film's biggest audience is out of school. This does avoid head-to-head competition with "Charlotte's Web," though, so perhaps the film will have the playing field more to itself.
Besson's story is based on his own children's book, Arthur and the Minimoys, which he adapted in a screenplay written with visual artist Celine Garcia. Young Arthur (Freddie Highmore of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") lives on a Connecticut homestead with his grandmother (Mia Farrow) and pet dog. Life is good, but he does suffer from neglect by his parents, wage slaves in a distant city.
His vivid fantasy life is fueled by tales of his grandfather, who mysteriously disappeared awhile back. In deepest Africa, granddad made friends with a jungle tribe of huge proportions and, conversely, the Minimoys, a tribe of tiny creatures.
An evil real estate developer will foreclose on the grandmother's property in 48 hours unless she can come up with a king's ransom. Arthur's rescue plan sends him searching for African rubies his granddad buried in the yard. A treasure map, conveniently discovered in a nick of time, instructs Arthur to miniaturize himself by passing through a telescope into the land of the Minimoys, inch-tall creatures who inhabit the backyard.
Here, insects assume huge sizes, and good and evil are locked in constant warfare. There is a good king, a villain whose name no one dares speak, a rastaman named Max (Snoop) and a princess (Madonna). He falls in love with the tiny princess and must travel with her and her younger brother toward the center of power for the evil Maltazard (Bowie) and the place where he believes his grandfather is a prisoner. All this is done as a cartoon, but even so, the idea of Madonna coming on to a 10-year-old boy is a bit weird.
The action and derring-do are exciting, but Besson drags things out considerably for his young audience at 122 minutes. The CG work is clever but cannot measure up to Pixar's standards in cleverness or imagination. Nothing is fresh here. Nevertheless, Besson's tech crew and visual effects overseers make the two worlds meld quite well.
ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES
MGM
The Weinstein Co. presents an Europa Corp./Avalanche Prods./Sofica Europacorp/Apipoulai production
Credits:
Director: Luc Besson
Screenwriters: Luc Besson, Celine Garcia
Based on the book by: Luc Besson
Producers: Luc Besson, Emmanuel Prevost
Directors of photography: Thierry Arbogast, Dominique Delguste
Production designer: Hugues Tissandier
Music: Eric Serra
Special effects: Dominique Vidal
Costume designer: Patrice Garcia
Cast:
Arthur: Freddie Highmore
Grandmother: Mia Farrow
Voice of Princess Selenia: Madonna
Voice of Maltazard: David Bowie
Voice of Max: Snoop Dogg
Mother: Penny Balfour
Father: Doug Rand
Voice of the King: Robert De Niro
Voice of Miro: Harvey Keitel
Voice of the travel agent: Chazz Palminteri
Voice of Ferryman: Emilio Estevez.
Running time -- 122 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 12/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Woman on Top" illustrates what can go wrong when filmmakers conjure up magical realism outside of a cultural context. The film purports to be the story of a young female chef from the Brazilian state of Bahia who creates aphrodisiac magic with her chilies and spices. But the story takes place in a cosmos where Carmen Miranda would feel at home. The star is Spanish, the director is Venezuelan, and all of the characters, whether "Brazilian" or North American, speak fluent English.
While one can understand Fox Searchlight's determination to turn Vera Blasi's screenplay into mainstream entertainment, throwing an equalizing, all-embracing blanket over the subtleties of cultural and ethnic differences robs the film of the ingredients that might have turned "Woman" into an enchanting romance along the lines of "Like Water for Chocolate". Instead, the film wallows in tired Latin American stereotypes, and its magical realism feels more like Walt Disney's flubber.
Thanks to the charismatic star power of Penelope Cruz, "Woman" is never less than watchable, and on the strength of her name, it should generate business in specialty markets. But the broth is too tepid and its spices too off-the-shelf to entice the throngs Fox Searchlight is hoping for. The film, which debuted at Cannes and recently opened the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, goes into U.S. release in September.
Plagued since infancy by an unusually severe form of motion sickness, Cruz's Isabella has learned to control her condition by being in physical control of all things involving motion, which means she not only has to lead when dancing, but she also has to be on top when making love.
To compensate for this frustrating delicateness, a Brazilian sea goddess who governs all things in Isabella's village has given her extraordinary culinary skills, and she is sought after by restaurateurs far and wide. Yet Isabella is content to remain the underappreciated chef at the seaside diner run by her husband, Toninho (Murilo Benicio). She does so because of their fearsome passion for each other. Wildly in love, Isabella will tolerate anything -- except betrayal.
So when she catches Toninho, who desires just once to be on top, locked in a sweaty embrace with another woman, she flees Bahia for San Francisco, where she hooks up with her transvestite pal Monica (Harold Perrineau Jr.).
By paying homage to the sea goddess, Isabella is cured of her love for her husband. Then her culinary talents bewitch a local TV producer (Mark Feuerstein), who instantly gives her a cooking show. He too falls in love with her but soon faces a rival in Toninho, who has tracked his wife down and strives to win her back -- and break the goddess's voodoo spell -- with a mellifluous singing voice.
Cruz's dramatic flair and devastating good looks carry "Woman", but they're not enough to make up for the film's blatant artifice. The personalities are all too generic, ranging from Perrineau's "La Cage aux Folles" drag queen to Benicio's ersatz Ricky Ricardo. And Fina Torres, the France-trained Venezuelan director making her third film, relies on pretty postcard views of Brazil and the Bay Area interspersed with fatuous special effects.
Fake-looking food aromas from Isabella's kitchen drift through the streets of San Francisco, causing much of the male populace to drool and fall into a mad romantic frenzy. This foolishness gets compounded by the sight of 50 or so men trooping hungrily behind an oblivious Cruz as she marches down the street, the exact meaning of which is unclear. Are these men entranced by Isabella's spices or her physical beauty? And how exactly does this enchantment transfer to others who may or may not know how to boil water?
Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast has caught the touristy sides of Bahia and San Francisco, while Luis Bacalov's snappy score -- along with a wide range of Brazilian songs -- nicely propels the romance. And Elisabeth Tavernier's costumes help Cruz, in one of her first major English-language roles, make a lasting impression.
WOMAN ON TOP
Fox Searchlight
An Alan Poul production
Producer: Alan Poul
Director: Fina Torres
Screenwriter: Vera Blasi
Executive producers: Bronwen Hughes,
Fina Torres
Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast
Production designer: Philippe Chiffre
Music: Luis Bacalov
Co-producer: Nancy Paloian-Breznikar
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Editor: Leslie Jones
Color/stereo
Cast:
Isabella: Penelope Cruz
Toninho: Murilo Benicio
Monica: Harold Perrineau Jr.
Cliff: Mark Feuerstein
Alex: John De Lancie
Running time - 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
While one can understand Fox Searchlight's determination to turn Vera Blasi's screenplay into mainstream entertainment, throwing an equalizing, all-embracing blanket over the subtleties of cultural and ethnic differences robs the film of the ingredients that might have turned "Woman" into an enchanting romance along the lines of "Like Water for Chocolate". Instead, the film wallows in tired Latin American stereotypes, and its magical realism feels more like Walt Disney's flubber.
Thanks to the charismatic star power of Penelope Cruz, "Woman" is never less than watchable, and on the strength of her name, it should generate business in specialty markets. But the broth is too tepid and its spices too off-the-shelf to entice the throngs Fox Searchlight is hoping for. The film, which debuted at Cannes and recently opened the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, goes into U.S. release in September.
Plagued since infancy by an unusually severe form of motion sickness, Cruz's Isabella has learned to control her condition by being in physical control of all things involving motion, which means she not only has to lead when dancing, but she also has to be on top when making love.
To compensate for this frustrating delicateness, a Brazilian sea goddess who governs all things in Isabella's village has given her extraordinary culinary skills, and she is sought after by restaurateurs far and wide. Yet Isabella is content to remain the underappreciated chef at the seaside diner run by her husband, Toninho (Murilo Benicio). She does so because of their fearsome passion for each other. Wildly in love, Isabella will tolerate anything -- except betrayal.
So when she catches Toninho, who desires just once to be on top, locked in a sweaty embrace with another woman, she flees Bahia for San Francisco, where she hooks up with her transvestite pal Monica (Harold Perrineau Jr.).
By paying homage to the sea goddess, Isabella is cured of her love for her husband. Then her culinary talents bewitch a local TV producer (Mark Feuerstein), who instantly gives her a cooking show. He too falls in love with her but soon faces a rival in Toninho, who has tracked his wife down and strives to win her back -- and break the goddess's voodoo spell -- with a mellifluous singing voice.
Cruz's dramatic flair and devastating good looks carry "Woman", but they're not enough to make up for the film's blatant artifice. The personalities are all too generic, ranging from Perrineau's "La Cage aux Folles" drag queen to Benicio's ersatz Ricky Ricardo. And Fina Torres, the France-trained Venezuelan director making her third film, relies on pretty postcard views of Brazil and the Bay Area interspersed with fatuous special effects.
Fake-looking food aromas from Isabella's kitchen drift through the streets of San Francisco, causing much of the male populace to drool and fall into a mad romantic frenzy. This foolishness gets compounded by the sight of 50 or so men trooping hungrily behind an oblivious Cruz as she marches down the street, the exact meaning of which is unclear. Are these men entranced by Isabella's spices or her physical beauty? And how exactly does this enchantment transfer to others who may or may not know how to boil water?
Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast has caught the touristy sides of Bahia and San Francisco, while Luis Bacalov's snappy score -- along with a wide range of Brazilian songs -- nicely propels the romance. And Elisabeth Tavernier's costumes help Cruz, in one of her first major English-language roles, make a lasting impression.
WOMAN ON TOP
Fox Searchlight
An Alan Poul production
Producer: Alan Poul
Director: Fina Torres
Screenwriter: Vera Blasi
Executive producers: Bronwen Hughes,
Fina Torres
Director of photography: Thierry Arbogast
Production designer: Philippe Chiffre
Music: Luis Bacalov
Co-producer: Nancy Paloian-Breznikar
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Editor: Leslie Jones
Color/stereo
Cast:
Isabella: Penelope Cruz
Toninho: Murilo Benicio
Monica: Harold Perrineau Jr.
Cliff: Mark Feuerstein
Alex: John De Lancie
Running time - 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 7/26/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The subject of many books, operas and movies and amply written about in her time -- though not referred to as Joan of Arc until many years after her execution in 1431 -- the teenage girl from Domremy who led a French army that defeated the English many times is given the royal cinematic treatment by Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") with mixed results. While male viewers looking for a distaff "Braveheart" will come away with memorable new scenes of medieval warfare, "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" lacks the emotional power of prior versions -- most notably Carl Dryer's silent masterpiece.
Along with Sony's other challenging, somewhat timely period epic "Ride With the Devil", "The Messenger" (which opens today in France) probably will perform only moderately well in domestic theaters. But overall returns, with an Oscar nomination or two in nonmajor categories, won't be too shabby. Probably not assured of a lasting place in movie history, Milla Jovovich's performance in such a difficult role has many commendable features, but she has to work extra hard to compete with the often-stunning widescreen imagery and doesn't always succeed.
Big, brawny and evocatively filmed, if not always stunningly acted, the Gaumont and Columbia Pictures presentation in English features Besson's ex-in-real-life Jovovich and John Malkovich as the Dauphin, who Joan helps crown King of France. While the battle scenes almost always make a lasting impression for their ferocity and the filmmakers' ability to orchestrate large quantities of extras, the mystical nature of this messenger's mission is not presented as the purely Christian saga it became after she was vindicated and became known as St. Joan.
After an initial disappointment at the English dialogue and accents, such as young Jane Valentine's at the outset (can you imagine a Davy Crockett movie in, say, German?), one more or less surrenders to Besson's "Alexander Nevsky"-meets-"Carrie" vision. Prophecised by mystics in a thoroughly whipped France under the yoke of English conquerors -- after Agincourt in 1415, not just the worst military defeat of the Hundred Years' War but in all of French history -- the Joan of Luc Besson's and Andrew Birkin's screenplay starts off as an 8-year-old (Valentine) who confesses frequently and claims to hear God talking to her.
Always employing a busy camera, which helps accentuate the confusion of the battle scenes, Besson and favorite cinematographer Thierry Arbogast set themselves some pretty daunting tasks, not the least of which is the initial setup. This is accomplished with young Joan having a vision as she lies in a field. She comes to with a sword lying next to her. Then, in the first of many jarring leaps in space and time, she's rushing through the forest toward a horrific, traumatizing moment when her sister is raped and killed in an especially grisly (and symbolic) fashion by an English soldier.
From an obsessed little girl who has interior dialogues with her "conscience" -- envisioned as a young boy, young man and finally, in the period after her capture, as Dustin Hoffman -- Joan emerges at 17 to gain the confidence of the Dauphin by promising to see him crowned King Charles VII.
With the timely support of Charles' mother-in-law (Faye Dunaway) and the allegiance of his warrior half-brother (Tcheky Karyo), Joan is allowed to command an army that accomplishes just that, but then she's betrayed, tried as a witch and burned at the stake. Along the way, she is almost killed and miraculously rejoins the fight the next day, one of many stories of the legend presented in an imaginative way by Besson -- including a stunning moment where Jovovich falls back off a ladder into a swirling mass of soldiers below her.
Alas, when the subdued, mostly hidden-in-shadows Hoffman engages Joan in a dialogue about her faith and her seeming conversion to nonviolence in the wake of the bloody carnage she partakes in, one starts to notice the long running time. Elevating Eric Serra's cantata-like score to a major element of the finale, Besson tries to end it all with a fiery bang (leading into the swoony end-title song "My Heart Calling", sung by Israeli singer Noa), but the real gut-wrenching reaction he wants to engender is fleeting.
THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Columbia Pictures and Gaumont
Director:Luc Besson
Screenwriters:Andrew Birkin, Luc Besson
Producer:Patrice Ledoux
Director of photography:Thierry Arbogast
Production designer:Hugues Tissandier
Editor:Sylvie Landra
Costume designer:Catherine Leterrier
Music:Eric Serra
Casting:Lucinda Syson
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joan of Arc:Milla Jovovich
Dunois:Tcheky Karyo
Charles VII:John Malkovich
Yolande D'Aragon:Faye Dunaway
Joan's Conscience:Dustin Hoffman
Duke of Alencon:Pascal Greggory
Gilles de Rais:Vincent Cassel
Running time -- 148 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Along with Sony's other challenging, somewhat timely period epic "Ride With the Devil", "The Messenger" (which opens today in France) probably will perform only moderately well in domestic theaters. But overall returns, with an Oscar nomination or two in nonmajor categories, won't be too shabby. Probably not assured of a lasting place in movie history, Milla Jovovich's performance in such a difficult role has many commendable features, but she has to work extra hard to compete with the often-stunning widescreen imagery and doesn't always succeed.
Big, brawny and evocatively filmed, if not always stunningly acted, the Gaumont and Columbia Pictures presentation in English features Besson's ex-in-real-life Jovovich and John Malkovich as the Dauphin, who Joan helps crown King of France. While the battle scenes almost always make a lasting impression for their ferocity and the filmmakers' ability to orchestrate large quantities of extras, the mystical nature of this messenger's mission is not presented as the purely Christian saga it became after she was vindicated and became known as St. Joan.
After an initial disappointment at the English dialogue and accents, such as young Jane Valentine's at the outset (can you imagine a Davy Crockett movie in, say, German?), one more or less surrenders to Besson's "Alexander Nevsky"-meets-"Carrie" vision. Prophecised by mystics in a thoroughly whipped France under the yoke of English conquerors -- after Agincourt in 1415, not just the worst military defeat of the Hundred Years' War but in all of French history -- the Joan of Luc Besson's and Andrew Birkin's screenplay starts off as an 8-year-old (Valentine) who confesses frequently and claims to hear God talking to her.
Always employing a busy camera, which helps accentuate the confusion of the battle scenes, Besson and favorite cinematographer Thierry Arbogast set themselves some pretty daunting tasks, not the least of which is the initial setup. This is accomplished with young Joan having a vision as she lies in a field. She comes to with a sword lying next to her. Then, in the first of many jarring leaps in space and time, she's rushing through the forest toward a horrific, traumatizing moment when her sister is raped and killed in an especially grisly (and symbolic) fashion by an English soldier.
From an obsessed little girl who has interior dialogues with her "conscience" -- envisioned as a young boy, young man and finally, in the period after her capture, as Dustin Hoffman -- Joan emerges at 17 to gain the confidence of the Dauphin by promising to see him crowned King Charles VII.
With the timely support of Charles' mother-in-law (Faye Dunaway) and the allegiance of his warrior half-brother (Tcheky Karyo), Joan is allowed to command an army that accomplishes just that, but then she's betrayed, tried as a witch and burned at the stake. Along the way, she is almost killed and miraculously rejoins the fight the next day, one of many stories of the legend presented in an imaginative way by Besson -- including a stunning moment where Jovovich falls back off a ladder into a swirling mass of soldiers below her.
Alas, when the subdued, mostly hidden-in-shadows Hoffman engages Joan in a dialogue about her faith and her seeming conversion to nonviolence in the wake of the bloody carnage she partakes in, one starts to notice the long running time. Elevating Eric Serra's cantata-like score to a major element of the finale, Besson tries to end it all with a fiery bang (leading into the swoony end-title song "My Heart Calling", sung by Israeli singer Noa), but the real gut-wrenching reaction he wants to engender is fleeting.
THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Columbia Pictures and Gaumont
Director:Luc Besson
Screenwriters:Andrew Birkin, Luc Besson
Producer:Patrice Ledoux
Director of photography:Thierry Arbogast
Production designer:Hugues Tissandier
Editor:Sylvie Landra
Costume designer:Catherine Leterrier
Music:Eric Serra
Casting:Lucinda Syson
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joan of Arc:Milla Jovovich
Dunois:Tcheky Karyo
Charles VII:John Malkovich
Yolande D'Aragon:Faye Dunaway
Joan's Conscience:Dustin Hoffman
Duke of Alencon:Pascal Greggory
Gilles de Rais:Vincent Cassel
Running time -- 148 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/27/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.