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.

Secrets of State

Somewhat aiming at being a spy movie with a French touch, Secrets of State leaves you with the feeling that you just watched a - post-Syriana - Hollywood movie set in France, rather than a French movie, which is mostly due to the fact that co-writer/director Phillippe Haim seems to be working hard at channeling Tony Scott and, to some extent, his brother Ridley.

By editing and shooting his film like an edgy and flashy piece of filmmaking, the writer greatly undermines his screenwriting's attempt at constructing a serious tale about the war between intelligence services and terrorists. While his film is captivating at times, whether it's during a couple action sequences or when it comes to describing in details how this world works, the central message he's delivering here is so heavy handed that it looses its impact once it becomes redundant: did we really need 3 references to understand that secret agents are prostitutes working for their country? Probably not, especially after watching Paul Verhoeven's Black Book.

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.

Mesrine review

The Mesrine review has just been added to our COLCOA page - make sure to check it out as it's one of our festival picks!
The two Mesrine films (Death Instinct & Public Enemy #1) will be playing on Friday.

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

2009 Razzies - Nominations

This is this time of the year again and the Razzie Awards are coming soon. To check out the nominations visit 2009 Razzies ...

AFI Fest 2008 Awards

The AFI Fest 2008 Awards have been announced. Check our AFI Fest 2008 page for award results ...

Plastic City & The Brothers Bloom

I must admit it was hard to find agreement about the two films we saw on Saturday at AFI Fest. While I highly enjoyed Plastic City (see video comments here), a gorgeous-looking and pretentious Hong Kong gangster film set in Sao Paulo, my fellow writer Anji hated it. However she did enjoy the con men comedy The Brothers Bloom (see video comments here - read the Brothers Bloom review) more than I did, as I found it wasn't more than a TV movie.

The Wrestler

Darren Aronofski's The Wrestler (see video comments here - read the Wrestler review) is a small film about a washed-up wrestler who comes to question the purpose of his life, following a heart attack. The film has a realistic feel while being drenched in irony. While it's not a masterpiece, this is a highly enjoyable film, which will mostly be remembered by the raw performances from its two lead actors, Mickey Rourke & Marisa Tomei.

The Gomorrah Class

Sunday was pretty satisfying, movie-wise. The day started with The Class (read the Class review), the film that won the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival this year. I must admit, I was expecting some over-hyped heavy-handed patchouli message-driven picture but was left astonished by the multiple layers offered here, including a subtle commentary, which questions the - somewhat outdated - foundations of the French education system (check out my video comments here).

The following feature, Gomorrah (read the Gomorra review), proved to be as intense, giving us a realistic look at the mafia. While much has been said about how it de-glamorizes the mafia myth, which was already done with humor in the Sopranos, more important was its focus on the use of kids for all the dirty jobs, which makes it close from films such as City of God.

Waltz with Two Lovers

I guess I hadn't done my homework ... When I arrived proudly on the rooftop of the Arclight this morning, I had the surprise to realize that the AFI Fest village was nowhere to be found, the festival's headquarters having been moved to the gorgeous Roosevelt hotel, right across that tourist trap named the Chinese theater. Upon arriving, I was even more disappointed running into a few witches and ghouls remaining from Marylin Manson's Halloween party the day before - I should have been there instead of that lame-ass party I went to.

But let's go back to the subject ... I started the festival with the screening of Nirvana (read the Nirvana review or watch my video comments about Nirvana here and if you need subtitles, email me!!), a post-punk Russian film that even a Sigue Sigue Sputnik fan like me found pretty tedious. The film was followed with some absurd Q&A with the director, who managed to never answer to the questions he was asked.

The following Waltz with Bachir was even more disappointing as it was preceded by some good buzz from Cannes (see video comments here - read Waltz with Bachir review), proving that having a good political/humanitarian message isn't enough to make a good film.

Finally, the documentary about Gogol Bordello (see video comments here) proved to be entertaining but messy, while James Gray's Two Lovers (Two Lovers review) was a good surprise despite the bad buzz from Cannes -- I know why the French hated it ... they didn't like the ending ... which isn't surprising, knowing their propensity to enjoy "drama".

AFI Fest 2008

Starting next week, Plume Noire will be covering AFI Fest 2008 live from Hollywood. You will find blog posts in this blog, a video journal on Youtube as well as exclusive reviews of the films.. In the meantime, check out our first reviews of Che, Tokyo, Two Lovers and Waltz with Bashir here

LA Film Festival 2008

I must admit, though it was crowded and rather uncomfortable at times, I still pine for the punkish LA Film Festival days at the Sunset 5 Plaza. Westwood Village is great and all, but we Eastsiders aren't all that fond of the 10 & the 405. Oh well…..

What are our picks this summer at the Los Angeles Film Festival?

The festival certainly has its eye on sure hits in the action genre for opening and closing nights, though they're from directors far removed from the Michael Bay school of Kaplowie! high jinks. Opening night features Wanted (Wanted review), directed by Timur Bekmambetov (director of the hyperkinetic Night Watch - Nightwatch review) and starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie, while the festival closes with writer/director Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Del Toro will also be on hand for a conversation at the Hammer.

Must sees include Elite Squad, which looks like Brazil's answer to Training Day, Nordic music videos in Declare Independence: Spotlight on Scandinavia, HottirBoombaLottie, The Wackness, Momma's Man, South Africa's The Choir and Infinite Border.

Outdoor screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre remind us its summertime in the city. Swear-a-Long Scarface, surf movie Highwater (Highwater review) and high school documentary American Teen (American Teen review) will screen at twilight.

Poolside chats at the W Los Angeles in Westwood tackle topics like pot "The New Stoner Age", funny women "Funny Girls", and "Hollywood, D.C.".

Documentary topics include art:Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe, family strife Must Read After My Death, transsexuals Trinidad chef school Pressure Cooker, and the yucky Fleiss Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal.

To its credit, the LA Film Festival has always screened a few films that deal with the complexities of angeleno life. This year two films explore South Central. The ever important free screenings include The Garden (The Garden review), which examines the dirty underbelly of LA politics that allowed the destruction of a 14 acre farm in the middle of South Central and Made in America, which takes a look at root causes of gang warfare. Quintessential LA architecture is explored in Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman.

Is it too early too visit the 80's? LAFF doesn't think so. From The Lost Boys to Night Flight: Born Again, campy fun abounds.

The LA edginess has been watered down, but that means events like Antonio Banderas being saluted. And who doesn't mind saluting Antonio?

LA Film Festival 2008

The Cannes Film Festival might be just over but we're already preparing for the LA Film Festival. Get ready for our coverage of the LA Film Festival 2008, which will take place from June 19th to June 28th.

Cannes Film Festival 2008

Plume Noire was at the Cannes Film Festival. Check out our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival 2008 edition, including our exclusive reviews and our blog.

Cannes Film Festival 2008

Now that the coverage of COL COA has been wrapped up, it's time to get ready for the Cannes Film Festival. From May 14th to May 25th, Plume Noire will cover the Cannes Film Festival 2008 and will bring you exclusive reviews as well as a blog. Stay tuned...

COL COA Awards

While we can certainly be satisfied that Secret of the Grain (The Secret of the Grain review) was awarded the critics prize, it is pretty disappointing to see that the audience prize went to Welcome to the land of Shti (Welcome to the land of Shti review), a funny but cheesy French box office champion, which success is mostly due to the fact that, whether it’s here on in the main land, the French behave like a lot of sheep.

Water Lilies & Secret of the Grain

Saturday was without a doubt the strongest day of the week, with 3 films imposing their mark in different genres: in terms of pure entertainment, OSS 117 (OSS 117 review) proved to be the most intelligent and ambitious comedy showcased at COL COA. Flirting with cinema-verité, Water Lilies (Water Lilies review) offered an uncompromising look at the lives of 3 teenage girls while Secret of the Grain (The Secret of the Grain review) brought a significant emotional dimension by bringing us in the life of North-African immigrants. Next to these 3 major works, the charming but light comedy La Vie d’Artiste (La Vie d'Artiste review) was quite forgettable.

The Killer & Rivals

Centered on the intriguing relationship between a man and the killer who has been sent to kill him, Jacques Maillot’s The Killer (The Killer review) was the revelation of the night, this minimalist psychological piece slowly enveloping the audience in its noir atmosphere. Built on the confrontation of two brothers, a cop and a con, and supported by French stars Guillaume Canet & François Cluzet, Rivals is quite entertaining but collapses once you realize how poorly drafted are these characters, their implausible personas being used as a gimmick to trigger an expected dramatic conclusion.

Cedric Klapisch's Paris

One of the most anticipated entries of the festival, Paris (Paris review) by Cédric Klapisch (L’Auberge Espagnole, Un Air de famille), proved to be a big disappointment. Abandoning his juicy portraits of a modern youth to, this time, focus on the adult world, with some social commentary in the background, Mr. Klapisch delivered a choral movie that stumbles in its messy storylines and veers too many times into cheesy Claude Lelouch territories.

Even more embarrassing was the following Q&A where it became clear that the interviewer didn’t know much about Mr. Klapisch’s body of work, beside a few articles he had read.