Un Prophete Archives - The Playlist

Box Office: ‘Shutter Island’ Shuts Out ‘Cop Out’ and ‘The Crazies’

Kimber Myers — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:20:00 +0000

It looks like a George Romero remake and a mash-up of ’80s cop-movie cliches were no match for the might of Martin Scorsese’s psychological thriller. “Shutter Island” pulled in another $22.2 million over the weekend, bringing its total within inches of its reported $80 million budget. There’s an argument for art vs. commerce here; Scorsese’s more artistically ambitious (but ultimately flawed) films such as “The Aviator” ($103 million) and “Gangs of New York” ($78 million) have done reasonably well at the box office, with their Oscar prospects boosting their takes.

Continue reading Box Office: ‘Shutter Island’ Shuts Out ‘Cop Out’ and ‘The Crazies’ at The Playlist.

Review: ‘Un Prophete’ Is a Gritty, Gripping Gangster Film

Kimber Myers — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:32:00 +0000

Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet (Un Prophete)” is an epic prison story /criminal journey in the vein of “Scarface” — except, you know, good. But veteran French director Audiard (“The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” “Read My Lips”) doesn’t deserve all the credit for this skillfully crafted film; newcomer Tahar Rahim (one of our picks for best breakthrough performances of last year) creates a role that capitalizes on his youth and naivete, allowing him to slowly and cunningly evolve into the part of an experienced kingpin.

Continue reading Review: ‘Un Prophete’ Is a Gritty, Gripping Gangster Film at The Playlist.

‘The White Ribbon’ & ‘A Prophet’ Make The Academy Foreign Language Films Shortlist For 2009

Rodrigo Perez — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:11:00 +0000

The Academy of Motion Arts & Pictures has released its Foreign Language Film shortlist and 9 films have made the cut. Eventually they’ll be whiddled down to five when the Oscar nominations are announced on February 2. The nine films are as thus:

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” – Juan Jose Campanella (Argentina)
“Samson & Delilah,” – Warwick Thornton (Australia)
“The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner,” – Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria)
“Un Prophete,” – Jacques Audiard (France)
“The White Ribbon,” – Michael Haneke (Germany)
“Ajami,” S- candar Copti and Yaron Shani (Israel)
“Kelin,” – Ermek Tursunov (Kazakhstan)
“Winter in Wartime” – Martin Koolhoven (The Netherlands)
“The Milk of Sorrow” – Claudia Llosa (Peru)

We like to think of ourselves as consumers and connoisseurs of global cinema, but even having attended Cannes, TIFF, SXSW and two or three other film festivals last year, we’re only really familiar with the three hits from Cannes (“The White Ribbon” which one the top prize, the runner-up, “Un Prophete” and the camera d’Or winner, “Samson & Delilah”).

Continue reading ‘The White Ribbon’ & ‘A Prophet’ Make The Academy Foreign Language Films Shortlist For 2009 at The Playlist.

Interview: Director Andrea Arnold Talks ‘Fish Tank’

Kimber Myers — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:50:00 +0000

“Everytime I see a film with a car chase, I always want to fast forward the car chase,” director Andrea Arnold says about the traditional thriller model. It’s not a shocking answer from an average maker of low-budget British dramas, but Arnold has created enough tension in her two features to make anyone but Hitchcock jealous.

With its focus on a closed-circuit-camera watcher stalking a mysterious man, her first full-length film, “Red Road,” was unsettling and surprising, and it took home the Cannes Jury Prize for all the discomfort it brought to the audience.

Continue reading Interview: Director Andrea Arnold Talks ‘Fish Tank’ at The Playlist.

Max Richter, Mark Isham, Alexandre Desplat: More Music N’ Film Connections & Composers At TIFF ’09

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Yesterday we noted many music/movie connections happening at the upcoming 2009 Toronto International Film Festival:

– Irish DJ David Holmes scoring the Irish gangster comedy, ” “Perrier’s Bounty” with Cillian Murphy.
– Montreal indie-rockers Malajube providing the music to the Jay Baruchel picture, “The Trotsky.“
– Noted composers Clint Mansell and Michael Penn writing the music for the Michael Douglas film, “Solitary Man.“
– L.A. string players, The Section Quartet composing the music for Drew Barrymore’s rollerskate derby comedy “Whip it!” starring Ellen Page.

Continue reading Max Richter, Mark Isham, Alexandre Desplat: More Music N’ Film Connections & Composers At TIFF ’09 at The Playlist.

Post-Cannes: Why The Prizes Don’t Really Mean Jack For Oscar

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:32:00 +0000

If you’ve read our blog enough you probably know that super early Oscar prognosticating gets on our nerves since it’s just wildly speculative and usually, making mountains out of molehills. But this is what some sites are dedicated to — and as much as the Oscars mean little in the scope of things, they’ve become more and more relevant over the years (relatively, anyhow).

When we read that some had rushed to adjust their Oscar predix after Cannes, we couldn’t help but laugh, however, this is a super weird Oscar/film year and perhaps even more than last year, any thing’s possible.

Continue reading Post-Cannes: Why The Prizes Don’t Really Mean Jack For Oscar at The Playlist.

The 10 Most Anticipated Films From Cannes

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:55:00 +0000

Yes, more Cannes. Turn away now if you don’t like it. Even though between the two of us (Sam and RP) we saw about 20 films (and of course there’s overlap), there were still a ton of things we missed from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Some of us had to leave early (me) and some of us had to fight to get into last minute screenings (Sam), thus everything we missed becomes our most anticipated film from the festival, with some caveats though of course because some things we still want to see didn’t necessarily get stellar reviews (and sometimes that’s an understatement).

Continue reading The 10 Most Anticipated Films From Cannes at The Playlist.

Cannes Grand Prix Winner, ‘Un Prophete’ Bought By Sony Pictures Classics

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:44:00 +0000

A few days before Jacques Audiard’s highly regarded, “Un Prophete” won the Grand Prix (runner-up) prize at the 62 annual Cannes Film Festival, the film’s U.S. rights were bought by Sony Pictures Classics, who did probably the most film purchasing of any distributor during the festival (they also bought the Palme d’Or winner, Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon”). No word on when the film will hit U.S. theaters, but presumably Fall 2009, so the picture can qualify for the Foreign Academy Awards (France likely to nominate it and put their best foot forward).

Continue reading Cannes Grand Prix Winner, ‘Un Prophete’ Bought By Sony Pictures Classics at The Playlist.

Cannes ’09: The Mid-Way Report Card, Is The Festival Not Really Making The Grade?

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:30:00 +0000

The 2009 Cannes Film Festival runs, on paper, from May 13-24, but in reality it, really runs from the 14-23, as that’s when the in-competition screenings begin and end. So today is really the mid-way point of the festival and so far, it’s feeling like a weak crop this year (it’s already Tuesday here, we’re in the future). One of the film’s expected to make a mark at the festival, Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist,” did make a splash, but it sounds like it polarized everyone into love or hate it experiences.

Continue reading Cannes ’09: The Mid-Way Report Card, Is The Festival Not Really Making The Grade? at The Playlist.