2011 LA Film Festival - Paraiso For Sale

It's no secret that Panama has become for the last few years a haven for American retirees, the low cost of living in that country allowing expats to come buy houses on the beach for a few dollars - not even mentioning the absence of taxes to pay.

As the word spread across Northern America, not only have legions of seniors started to invade that country but greedy developers have also jumped the bandwagon, decided to turn Panama in another Cancun. The documentary follows three characters, a man running for major to protect locals against those developers, an indigenous fighting developers who are stealing their land and one of the first American residents who is now trying to fight this invasion as well. What we witness is a story that can be seen throughout South America and also in my native Provence (to a lesser extent), which is foreigners buying houses, developers kicking locals out while stealing their property and the price of housing becoming too high for local.

While the documentary does a great job at delivering its revolting message, one will regret that it doesn't confront the first American residents who, despite fighting against the invaders, were the ones who opened the can of worms in the first place.

The three main protagonists were present for the Q&A at the LA film festival, adding a dose of emotion to the screening. (Paraiso for Sale review)

2011 LA Film Festival - Bad Intentions

The Peruvian entry Bad Intentions (The Bad Intentions review) was probably the entry I was looking forward to the most and it didn't disappoint me. The film about a weird little girl who thinks she will die when her brother will get born provided a haunting look at the mind of a somewhat twisted kid while showcasing in the background the political turmoil that was shaking Peru in the 80's.

Writer/director Rosario García-Montero who was there for the Q&A admitted that it was somewhat of an autobiographical work; So far my favorite film at this Los Angeles film festival edition.

2011 LA Film Festival - Drive

Drive (Drive review) was a perfect choice as a gala entry on Friday. The Nicolas Winding Refn film (Valhala Rising) is not only a homage to those B-movies that always have had a place at the LA film festival program but it is in shot in LA's gritty streets not far from where the screening occurred.

In terms of Lalaland factor, the red carpet gala featured a series of celebrities, including the actors from the film.

2011 LA Film Festival - Introduction

For the second time, the LA film festival is being held at the Nokia mall, downtown LA. While I'm really not a fan of that cold mall, which should be better suited for Irvine or any other aseptic OC city, this is at least a central location, which allows to bring a more contrasted crowd, rather than just a bunch of UCLA students, as it used to be the case in Westwood village.

What makes the festival particularly interesting this year is that it offers the chance to discover a wider selection of films, as there is less festival circuit favorites than usual. What also makes me happy is that we won't have to endure another premiere of a Transformers movie, even though the screening of that Green Lantern should have been a better match for the Newport Beach film festival.

The only thing I am somewhat disappointed with is the fact that the screenings at the Ford are scarce and not that exciting this year - I miss the good old times when former radio glory Indie103 was partnering with the festival for some punk screenings there ...

But what infuriates me the most - and this happens at every festival every year - is some of those ignorant film students who, because they took a film 101 class, have to ask every filmmaker during the Q&A if they got inspired by some film they just discovered ... to all of the wannabe filmmakers starting school or growing up on Michael Bay cinema, please respect the filmmakers during the Q&As and just shut up ... Here is a hint: No, Peruvian entry Bad Intentions doesn't look like it's been inspired by Pan's Labyrinth, even though these are two movies with kids in Spanish.

Now, it's time to get with business ... Find out about the films in our next posts ...

Cannes Film Festival 2011 Jury

Plume Noire will as usual cover the Cannes film festival, which will take place from May 11th to May 22nd.

Here is the jury:

Competition Jury: Robert De Niro (President), Olivier Assayas, Martina Gusman, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Jude Law, Nansun Shi, Uma Thurman, Johnnie To, Linn Ullmann Un Certain Regard Jury: Emir Kusturica (President).

We will review film that are presented in and out of competition as well as entries from Certain Regard and Critics Week.

Razzies 2011 Winners

Following last year's Razzie ceremony which had benefited from a serious glamour boost from the presence of actress Sandra Bullock, this year's Razzie ceremony was quite a dull affair. The organization that aims at lambasting bad movies seemed to surprisingly embrace some of the very things they have been fighting against - namely bad directing and bad comedy. The ceremony was marked by an uninspired music number opening, a parody of The King Speech, which seemed to drag for hours and countless fart jokes about the night's winner, The Last Airbender - how can you mock Rob Schneider when you put yourself at his level ??

As for the Razzie winners, while Sex & the City 2, The Last Airbender & Ashton Kutcher got well-deserved accolades, one can regret that the Twilight Saga got spared. Also surprising was the presence of Jessica Alba since her role and performance in Machete were obviously tongue-in-cheek.

Razzies Awards 2011

Plume Noire will be covering the Razzies Awards 2011 on Saturday in Hollywood. Make sure to tune-in to check our exclusive coverage of the ceremony and find out about the Razzies winners. In the meantime, have a look at the nominations.

13 Assassins and Outrage

13 Assassins and Outrage would would certainly have been a dream double bill for modern Asian cinema aficionados, would they have been scheduled the same day at AFI Fest.

The new entry from iconoclastic director Takashi Miike, 13 Assassins (13 Assassins review) is a surprisingly formal film from a filmmaker mostly known for his outrageous works (Ichi the Killer, Audition among others). The film centers on a group of assassins that is hired to killed a cruel dignitary. Echoing the Seven Samourais and The Dirty Dozen, this is a quite restrained and effective work that proves to be fun while avoiding typical Miike's excesses - there is one signature horrible scene though.

Takeshi Kitano's Outrage (Outrage review) marks a return to the director's favorite subgenre, the yakuza film, but this brutal work remains inferior to some of his most emblematic films (Sonatine, Fireworks, Brothers), mostly because his sense of poetry is lacking here.

Aardvark

Screened on Friday, Kitao Sakurai’s debut film is very unique work, mixing dark comedy and thriller. Aardvark (Aardvark review) centers on a blind and alcoholic middle-age man who decides to learn BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and in the process get involved in a shady world. The film is intriguing, using long contemplative shots and distilling dark humor. It never plays the pity card regarding its central character's handicap, making him a strong giant, and toward the last third of the movie, Aardvark takes an unexpected turn which celebrates the originality and talent of this new filmmaker.

AFI Fest 2010 Selection

Here is our selection, aiming at exploring colorful and international horizons.

List of films we will cover:

• 13 Assassins (13 Assassins review)
• Aardvark (Aardvark review)
• Certified Copy (Certified Copy review)
• Chico & Rita (Chico & Rita review)
• The Housemaid (Housemaid review)
• Outrage (Outrage review)
• The Princess of Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier review)
• Uncle Boonmee (Uncle Boonmee review)

About AFI Fest

This second edition of the AFI fest reboot seems to get back to what AFI fest used to be, a festival of festivals. The selection includes several entries presented at other festivals such as the Cannes film festival and Toronto fest, making for a quite solid program, following last year's chaotic edition.

For the second year, AFI fest is not only shorter - a week instead of the usual 10 days - but also giving away tickets for free, which is far from being the idea of pure genius they think it is. Why? Mostly because in one of the only towns where film aficionados are actually willing to pay $10 to watch some great picture, they are once again giving away tickets at a time when people who would actually buy them can't get them because they are at work. Because tickets were free, they "sold out" within minutes, while the AFI website crashed again, these tickets mostly ending up in the hands of amateurs of freebies instead of just film fans - just notice the number of people leaving the screenings early.

While AFI fest used to be the strongest festival in town, this is clear that these last couple of years, it lost its spot, which was gladly taken by the LA film festival. This year's edition of AFI fest is certainly interesting but to reclaim its glory, the festival should get back to its 10-days paying formula.

AFI Fest 2010

Part of The lineup for AFI Fest having just be announced - at least foreign films and galas - we have started to post reviews for some of the films that will be presented to help you pick what films you will want to see; as a reminder, the festival will once again be free and tickets will be available next week. In the meantime, check out our first reviews by checking our coverage of AFI Fest 2010 ...

Los Angeles Film Festival 2010 Awards

The jury and audience awards for the 2010 LA film festival have been announced. Here are the Los Angeles Film Festival 2010 Awards ...

Sylvester Stallone at the LA film festival

While you might expect more to see me at conversations with filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, I must admit I was both intrigued and excited at the idea to hear Sylvester Stallone talk about his career at the Los Angeles film festival.

If the action star/writer/director is responsible for quite a number of stinkers, he is also behind two of the most enduring film series, Rocky and Rambo and he has written and directed enough films to get some kind of auteuristic status and recognition -- think of him as an A-league Roger Corman.

Contrary to popular belief, Mr Stallone is not a brute or a simpleton. Not only is he surrounded by that star-like aura that only a few have -- and trust me working in Hollywood, I saw lots of celebrities -- but he has a great sense of humor and is fully aware of his legacy -- whether it's good or bad.

For almost 2 hours, Mr. Stallone delighted us with anecdotes about his greatest films -- did you know the original cut of First Blood was a pretentious 3 hour bore? -- and his worst -- -- ever heard of the musical Rhinestone? Two of the highlights were certainly when he mentioned Rocky Balboa and Rambo, explaining that he had to close both film series on a high note, following the mediocre Rocky 5 and First Blood part 3 -- while he took the responsibility for his failures, often blaming it on his ego and poor decisions, he also showed here his auteuristic side and his sense of ethics.

Mr Stallone also presented some scenes of his latest film, The Expandables, before answering the questions of some of his -- freaky -- fans (in case you are wondering, there among other weirdos one woman chasing him with an action figure ...)

Orly & Of love and Other Demons

The French film Orly and the Colombian film Of love and Other Demons were showing on Friday night.

Set in the eponymous Parisian airport, Orly aimed at showing us how life in an airport is, like if we were voyeurs who could spy on travelers' conversations for a few minutes. While the concept might have been interesting on paper, the film seemed to follow the Paris Je T'aime format, offering us a succession of love and family stories that are not bringing much to the table. Setting up this film at the Charles de Gaulle international airport would have at least brought an exotic touch, which was present here.

Based on a Gabriel García Márquez novel and mostly set in a convent, Of love and Other Demons (Of Love and Other Demons review) is centered on the love story between a young girl and a priest. While the premise and the poster looked appealing, Hilda Hidalgo's adaptation proved to be a pretentious bore. With its overly esthetic cinematograpy and slow pace, Of love and Other Demons is trying to make art and eroticism with every framed shot but fails by relying on a cheesy soap like mise en scene.

The Los Angeles Film Festival Moves Downtown

As you might by now have read it, the Los Angeles Film Festival now takes place downtown LA. Having outgrown Westwood - do you guys also remember the good old days at Sunset Plaza? - the festival is now one block away from the infamous LA Live, that cheesy fake-looking entertainment center for scenester-wannabees. The good news is that the festival not only found a great home at this Regal cinemas, with a setting familiar to what AFI Fest was at Arclight(including a rooftop village) but they also took over several venues downtown, from Red Cat to Grand Plaza, preserving the village feel they had in Westwood - plus they kept the Henri Ford theatre in Hollywood :)

Beside the change of venues, the other big difference is the crowd. Gone are the UCLA students, having been replaced by an older and more industry-centric crowd. The only drawback might be having the opening gala on Laker final week, the premiere party having taken place during the final at the nearby Staples center - in case you are wondering, it meant partying while watching cops chasing unruly supporters downstairs.

Los Angeles Film Festival 2010

Here is the lineup of the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, which Plume Noire will cover:

Opening-night film:

• "The Kids Are All Right" -- Lisa Cholodenko (Focus Features)

Closing-night film:

• "Despicable Me" -- Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Sergio Pablos (Universal Pictures) WORLD PREMIERE

Bonus by Invitation Screening:

• "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" -- David Slade (Summit Entertainment) WORLD PREMIERE

Gala Screenings (5):

• "Animal Kingdom" -- David Michod [Australia] (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Cyrus" -- Jay and Mark Duplass (Fox Searchlight)
• "Mahler on the Couch" -- Percy and Felix Adlon -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Revolucion" -- Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Eimbcke, Amat Escalante, Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo Garcia, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Pia, Carlos Reygadas and Patricia Riggen [Mexico] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Waiting for Superman" -- Davis Guggenheim (Paramount Vantage)

Narrative Competition (9):

• "Dog Sweat" -- Hossein Keshavarz [Iran] -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "A Family" -- Pernille Fischer Christensen [Denmark] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Hello Lonesome" -- Adam Reid -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "The New Year" -- Brett Haley
• "Of Love and Other Demons" -- Hilda Hidalgo [Costa Rica/Colombia] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE • "Orly" -- Angela Schanelec -- [Germany/France] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Parade" -- Isao Yukisada -- [Japan] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Upstate" -- Katherine Nolfi and Andrew Luis -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "The Wolf Knife" -- Laurel Nakadate -- WORLD PREMIERE

Documentary Competition (9):

• "Camera, Camera" -- Malcolm Murray -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Circo" -- Aaron Schock [USA/Mexico] -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "One Lucky Elephant" -- Lisa Leeman -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" -- Lev Anderson, Chris Metzler -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Farewell" -- Ditteke Mensink [Netherlands] -- U.S. PREMIERE
• "Life with Murder" -- John Kastner [Canada] -- U.S. PREMIERE
• "Make Believe" -- J. Clay Tweel -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Vlast" -- Cathryn Collins
• "Where Are You Taking Me?" -- Kimi Takesue -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE

International Showcase (20):

• "1428" -- Du Hai-bin (China)
• "Army of Crime" -- Robert Guediguian [France] (Kino)
• "Bibliotheque Pascal" -- Szabolcs Hajdu -- [Germany/Hungary/England] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Café Noir" -- Jung Sung-il [South Korea] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Disco & Atomic War" --- Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma [Estonia/Finland]
• "Down Terrace" -- Ben Wheatley [England] (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Eastern Plays" -- Kamen Kalev [Bulgaria]
• "Eyes Wide Open" -- Haim Tabakman [Israel/Germany/France] (New American Vision)
• "Family Tree" -- Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau [France]
• "Golden Slumber" -- Yoshihiro Nakamura [Japan] -- N. AMERICAN PREMIERE
• "Judge" -- Liu Jie [China]
• "La Pivellina" -- Rainer Frimmel and Tizza Covi [Austria/Italy]
• "Lebanon, Samuel Maoz" [Israel] (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "The Peddler" -- Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich [Argentina]
• "R" -- Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer [Denmark]
• "The Red Chapel" -- Mads Brugger [Denmark]
• "Secrets of the Tribe" -- José Padilha [England/Brazil]
• "Space Tourists' -- Christian Frei [Switzerland]
• "Street Days" -- Levan Koguashvili [Georgia]
• "Woman on Fire Looks For Water" -- Woo Ming Jin [Malaysia/South Korea]

Summer Screenings (12):

• "Ain’t In It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm" -- Jacob Hatley
• "Cane Toads: The Conquest" -- Mark Lewis [Australia/U.S.]
• "Cold Weather" -- Aaron Katz
• "Four Lions" -- Christopher Morris [England]
• "Kings of Pastry" -- D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (First Run Features)
• "Marwencol" -- Jeff Malmberg
• "Monsters" -- Gareth Edwards (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Night Catches Us" -- Tanya Hamilton (Magnolia Pictures)
• "The Tillman Story" -- Amir Bar-Lev (Weinstein Co.)
• "Tiny Furniture" -- Lena Dunham (IFC Films)
• "Welcome to the Rileys" -- Jake Scott (Apparition, Destination Films)
• "White Material" -- Claire Denis [France] (IFC Films)

Outdoor Screenings at the Ford Amphitheatre (4):

• "Centurion" -- Neil Marshall [England] (Magnolia Pictures)
• "The Last Exorcism" -- Daniel Stamm (Lionsgate) – WORLD PREMIERE
• "The People vs. George Lucas" -- Alexandre O. Philippe
• "Thunder Soul" -- Mark Landsman

International Spotlight (4):

• "The Fall" (1959)
• "The Hand in the Trap" (1961)
• "The House of the Angel" (1957)
• "The Seven Madmen" (1973)

Selections from the Ambulante Film Festival (3):

• "One Day Less" -- Dariela Ludlow [Mexico] U.S. PREMIERE
• "Presumed Guilty" -- Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith [Mexico]
• "The Toledo Report" -- Albino Álvarez Gomez [Mexico]

Community Screenings (4):

• "Climate Refugees" -- Michael P. Nash -- Grand Performances Screening
• "Gasland" -- Josh Fox
• "Lost Angels" -- Thomas Napper -- WORLD PREMEIRE
• "A Small Act" -- Jennifer Arnold -- Project:Involve Screening

The Beyond (4):

• "All About Evil" -- Joshua Grannell
• "Bitter Feast" -- Joe Maggio -- WORLD PREMIERE
• "Mandrill" -- Ernesto Diaz Espinoza [Chile]
• "Separado!" -- Gruff Rhys and Dylan Goch [Wales] -- U.S. PREMIERE

Special Screenings (3):

• "The Life of Richard Wagner" (1913) -- Carl Froelich
• "The Wheeler Boys, Philip G. Flores" -- WORLD PREMIERE -- Netflix FIND Your Voice Winner
• "Utopia in Four Movements" -- David Cerf and Sam Green

UCLA Film & T.V. Archive Collaborations, L.A. Film Critics: The Films That Got Away (2):

• "The Happiest Girl in the World" (2009) -- Radu Jude [Romania]
• "Katalin Varga" (2009) -- Peter Strickland [Romania/England]

Downtown Confidential (2):

• "Hickey and Boggs" (1972) -- Robert Culp
• "The Driver" (1978) -- Walter Hill

The Film Foundation Screening Program (2):

• "The Leopard" (1963) -- Luchino Visconti -- Presented by the Film Foundation and Gucci as part of “Cinema Visionaries.”
• "The Music Room" (1958) -- Satyajit Ray -- Presented by the Film Foundation and American Express as part of "20 Years/20 Films."

Music Videos (60):

• Eclectic Mix 1-2"
• Big in Japan: A Survey of Japanese Music Videos

Cannes Festival 2010

The lineup for the Cannes Festival 2010 has been updated. Plume Noire will start coverting the festival next week, live from the Croisette so stay tuned ...

Rapt & Gainsbourg

Saturday was definitely a great day for movies at the COLCOA film festival, at least for the couple I saw. Lucas Belvaux's Rapt (Rapt review) was a captivating look at a kidnapping, marking its originality by focusing on what's going on behind the scenes, on the victim's side, rather than on the victim and his kidnappers. The film brushes the psychological portrait of the parties involved, questioning their morality and confronting them to their own conscience, without being judgmental.

Looking at the huge turnout for Gainsbourg (Gainsbourg review), it was obvious that this biopic about the legendary French artist, would have been a much better way to kick-off the festival, than Heartbreaker. Tackling such a fascinating character seemed like a quite perilous project but writer/director Joann Sfar's choice to build a tale high in metaphors and surrealism makes it more worthy of the character than a tame chronological biopic. Joann Sfar's film shouldn't been approached as a historical film though but rather as a pop art piece, which is colorful, exciting but also superficial - you won't get into the singer's psyche here but will get to experience how unordinary and fun his life might have been.

The screening was followed by a Q&A with Eric Elmosnino, the star of the film, which provided some insightful information.

The Concert

The concert (The concert review) was screening on Friday night at COLCOA. The film follows a group of old Russian musicians who, pretending to be the Bolshoi, end up landing a gig at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. At the Q&A, director Radu Mihaileanu stated that the premise of this picture was based on a true story, a group of musicians having indeed impersonated the Bolchoi a few years ago in Asia, but except for this, The concert seems to copy the Buena Vista Social Club formula, transferring the Cuban and New York settings to Russia and Paris. While this uplifting farce is quite amusing, with some good moments such as the recital, it is a work that, in the end, proves to be filled with cliches and somewhat manipulative.
As a sidenote, the movie was introduced by his distributor, Mr. Harvey Weinstein who, rather than talking about this film, stated he wouldn't stay at this screening to go instead meet Mr. Jean-Paul Belmondo at a nearby festival. While paying homage to the French film icon at this festival was certainly appropriate, the whole thing sounded kinda rude, which knowing Mr Weinstein's reputation isn't that surprising.