Showing posts with label 12th COL COA festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12th COL COA festival. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2009

A Night with Spies - OSS 117 and Spy(ies)

Friday night was arguably the best night at COLCOA this year with its mix of gangsters and spies.
Mesrine (read the Mesrine review) was screened in its entirety (part 1 and 2 were shown successively) while 2 different kinds of spies movies were featured, each of them being successful in its own genre.

The spy spoof OSS 117 Lost in Rio, which is the follow up of the highly successful OSS 117 proved to be as hilarious as its predecessor, its charming kitsch being this time transposed in the exotic surroundings of the Brazilian city. The writer director, present for a Q&A afterwards, brought a welcome note of sarcasm answering unintinteresting questions from the audience and from that annoying pompous critic from a well known publication.

A couple days after the highly disappointing and messy Secrets of State, Spy(ies) proved that French cinema can deliver smart and sharp movies about spies, without losing its soul to provide some entertainment. Focusing on highly flawed characters, the film was an effective psychological thriller supported by a strong cast.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

COLCOA Opening Night Gala


COLCOA kicked off with a gala filled with the usual fine food, drinks and guests, from filmmaker Costa-Gavras to actresses/directors Josianne Balasko & Zabou Breitman.

The film opening the festival, Someone I loved, which was directed by Ms. Breitman and starred Daniel Auteuil was more problematic. Not only is this a minor - though entertaining - film that does not have the caliber to open a film festival - Mesrine (Mesrine review) or even OSS 117 would have been better choices - but its abrupt changes in tones, from pathos to a cliched romance, made it look like a work that is constantly questionning its own identity and purpose.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

COL COA 2009

The COL COA French film festival is coming, from April 20th to April 26th. As usual we will bring you some exclusive reviews of the films presented. In the meantime, here are our first recommendations for COL COA 2009

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

COL COA 2008

Check out our COL COA 2008 film selection for the 12th edition of Los Angeles French film festival COL COA
Come back soon for our festival reviews and our festival coverage on this blog.