“It Happened in Saint-Tropez,” a comedy directed and co-written by Danièle Thompson, is the opening night film at the City of Lights City of Angels film fest (COL•COA) tonight at the Directors Guild in Los Angeles. It is the movie’s North American premiere. Now I must go and get gala-ready!
COL•COA film festival kicks off with a comedy
April 15, 2013 by
Film noir features prominently at TCM Classic Film Festival
April 11, 2013 by
Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies is the theme for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival, which takes place in Hollywood April 25-28. The lineup will explore how movies can carry viewers beyond their hometowns to distant or imaginary locales, where they can be transformed by great storytelling.
What I’m most looking forward to, though, is the slew of film noir treats and the special guests that make the fest so memorable. They are:
“The Killing”
In person: Coleen Gray
“The Narrow Margin”
In person: Jacqueline White
“Bonnie and Clyde”
In person: Robert Benton
“On the Waterfront”
In person: Eva Marie Saint
“Cape Fear”
In person: Polly Bergen
“The Lady Vanishes”
In person: Norman Lloyd
“They Live by Night”
In person: Susan Ray
“Mildred Pierce”
In person: Ann Blyth
“Try and Get Me”
“Badlands”
In person: Ed Pressman, Billy Weber
“Gilda”
In person: Debra Winger
“The Birds”
In person: Tippi Hedren
“Three Days of the Condor”
In person: Max von Sydow
“Dial M for Murder”
In person: Norman Lloyd
Noir City: Three weeks of divine darkness in Hollywood
April 2, 2013 by
Noir City: Hollywood, now in its 15th year, hits Los Angeles on Friday, April 5, with a Cy Endfield double feature: “Try and Get Me” and “Hell Drivers.” Presented by the American Cinematheque in collaboration with the Film Noir Foundation, the film festival runs until April 21. That’s three weeks of divine darkness to enjoy with FNF chief Eddie Muller and FNF co-director Alan K. Rode.
Robert Siodmak
They are bringing a slew of rarely screened gems to the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, including the FNF’s new 35mm restorations of “High Tide,” “Repeat Performance” and “Try and Get Me!” There’s also a night of African-American noir (“Native Son” and “No Way Out”) as well as show business noir (“Sunset Blvd.” and “The Other Woman”). Additionally, the fest is paying tribute to writer Cornell Woolrich (“Street of Chance” and “Night Has A Thousand Eyes”) and to director Robert Siodmak (“Cry of the City” and “The Killers”).
New this year is a special night of 3-D noir at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica (“Man in the Dark” and “Inferno”) and a closing-night film noir party on April 21.
See you in the dark!
Retro window dressing …
April 2, 2013 by
Poetic ‘Blancanieves’ is stunning in design, daring in vision
March 29, 2013 by
Blancanieves/2012/Arcadia Motion Pictures, et al/104 min.
Luminously beautiful, compelling and surprisingly moving, “Blancanieves” is a fairytale noir that’s a must-see for lovers of black and white and silent film. Writer/director Pablo Berger’s exquisite rendering of “Snow White” takes place in 1920s Seville and tells the passionate story of Carmen (Macarena García), the daughter of a famous bullfighter (Daniel Giménez Cacho), and her struggle to escape from under the thumb of her evil stepmother Encarna (Maribel Verdú).
Carmen has inherited her father’s talent in the ring and, after a near brush with death at the hands of Encarna’s henchman, Carmen, as Blancanieves (Snow White), is rescued and becomes the star of a troupe of seven bullfighting dwarves. But, like any cruel and conniving femme fatale worth her salt, Encarna isn’t that easy to vanquish and she reappears to cause murderous trouble for Carmen.
“The film is true to the dark spirit of the popular tale from the Brothers Grimm,” says Berger. “I use melodrama as a way of pushing the limits of characters in extreme situations.” Visually, Berger’s film is a celebration of the work of the masters of silent cinema, such as F.W. Murnau, Jacques Feyder and Victor Sjostrom. Superb music from Alfonso de Vilallonga heightens the mood of edgy enchantment.
Whereas the much acclaimed, Oscar-winning and gorgeously shot French b&w silent “The Artist” sometimes seemed slightly pat and overly commercial, Berger’s willingness in “Biancanieves” to take risks results in a poetic, personal work that’s rich in texture, stunning in design and daring in vision.
“Blancanieves” opens today in New York and LA with a national roll out to follow.
New York Film Academy’s favorite film noir classics
March 27, 2013 by
This is a paid post, written by the New York Film Academy.
The New York Film Academy is a purveyor of great cinematography of any genre, but faculty staff at the filmmaking school particularly enjoy a good film noir, especially when using it to teach students the nuances of expressionism.
Here we unveil seven of the Academy’s favorite film noir flicks. Where possible, we’ve provided links to the full movies.
“White Heat” (1949, Raoul Walsh)
Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien
James Cagney gives a matchless performance in “White Heat.”
Heist films don’t get any better than this. “White Heat” is a precursor to many of the great gangster and prison movies of the ’50s, albeit a lot grittier and a lot darker than the films it went on to inspire.
Virginia Mayo is a divine femme fatale, and James Cagney’s performance as psychotic mobster Cody Jarrett is electrifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghapUv2Tp2I
“Sudden Fear” (1952, David Miller)
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame
After a string of marvelous hard-boiled flicks with Warner Bros., Joan Crawford left the studio and went on to star in the psychological masterpiece “Sudden Fear.” It’s a great movie and one of the best of Crawford’s ’50s output; it also earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress. Palance received a nod for Best Actor in a supporting role. The film itself rightfully received nominations for best costume design and best cinematography.
COL•COA fest to open with a Danièle Thompson comedy
March 27, 2013 by
One of my favorite film festivals starts in a few weeks. The City of Lights, City of Angels (COL•COA) film festival, a week of premieres in Hollywood, runs April 15-22. Last night, at the French Consulate, the Franco-American Cultural Fund announced the program for the fest, now in its 17th year.
“We are proud to offer the biggest and most exclusive program ever, including, for the first time, a new series that highlights the French film industry’s support of world cinema,” said François Truffart, COL•COA executive producer and artistic director.
COL•COA will feature 38 features and 19 shorts. It opens on Monday, April 15, with the North American premiere of “It Happened in Saint-Tropez,” a Danièle Thompson comedy, starring Kad Merad and Monica Bellucci. The film will be released in France on April 10.
Closing the fest on Sunday, April 22, is the recent French box-office success, “Jappeloup,” directed by Christian Duguay.
Of course, I am most looking forward to the film noir series, which will include “Armed Hands,” co-written and directed by Pierre Jolivet.
More on the fest later; meanwhile be sure to check the COL•COA site and snag your tickets – they will sell quickly!
Clout’s what it’s all about in ‘The Power Trip’ by Jackie Collins
March 18, 2013 by
Jackie Collins
Reform school or Hollywood? Millions of fans around the globe are grateful that author Jackie Collins – a self-described wild child once upon a time – chose the latter.
“I was always obsessed with Hollywood and America, even as a kid,” said Collins at a media party for her latest book, “The Power Trip,” an event held last month at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in West Hollywood. “I used to pretend to be American and tell people my father was in the CIA.”
She immersed herself in the machinations and mysteries of Tinseltown at age 15. It was 1952 and she bunked with her older sister, actress Joan Collins, in an apartment complex occupied by movers and shakers in the making. Says Jackie Collins: “I learned how to drive and I was very streetwise. It was a fantastic place and time. I fell in love with LA and I knew it was where I belonged.”
Living à la “Melrose Place” meant there was no shortage of steamy inspiration. Her first novel, “The World is Full of Married Men,” published in 1968, was banned in Australia and South Africa. Her 29 best-selling novels have sold more than 500 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. Eight of her novels were adapted for the screen, as films or TV mini-series. Vanity Fair dubbed her the Marcel Proust of Hollywood.
In “The Power Trip,” a Russian billionaire and his supermodel girlfriend invite five high-profile couples to accompany them as they embark on the maiden voyage of their luxury yacht – off the coast of Cabo San Lucas in the Sea of Cortez. Luckily for readers, it’s not all smooth sailing.
Said the ever-glam Collins at the event, her emeralds and diamonds shimmering in the soft light: “I had more fun writing “The Power Trip” than I did with any other book. I want you to feel that you’re there, seeing the white beach and turquoise ocean, sipping champagne in pure luxury.”
She also talked about her organic process – writing in longhand and not using an outline. “I start with a title and the main characters, and I figure it out as I go like a jigsaw puzzle or a tapestry. The piece always knits together. I guess I was a-born storyteller because everything falls into place even though I don’t know what’s going to happen. My characters take me on a trip.”
She writes during the day, records a lot of TV shows (faves include “Revenge,” “Scandal,” “Shameless” and “Dexter,”) and, if she has a spare moment, pins guys on Pinterest. Some of her favorite slices of beefcake are: Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Paul Newman, Taylor Kinney, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling. (She also admires Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney as well as Angelina Jolie, Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence.)
Speaking of pinable men, she says, “I have a man for every occasion. I was married for a long time [to Oscar Lerman from 1966 until his death in 1992]. Now I live my life like an affluent bachelor.” Her evenings are typically spent meeting friends for dinner or going to parties or screenings. No matter where she goes, she’s carefully observing the scene. “I’m an anthropologist crawling through the jungles of Hollywood. If anything, my characters are toned down – the truth is much more bizarre.
“I always have so many ideas, there are five books I could sit down and write tomorrow. That’s why, I think, I never sleep.” In fact, she’s developing a play, a cookbook, a book of candid photos she shot over the years and an autobiography.
And she reads. “I love tough male fiction,” she says, noting that she’s particularly drawn to authors Joseph Wambaugh and. Elmore Leonard. Every year she rereads “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo.
That machismo-infused grit often rubs off on her literary creations. One reason Collins connects with so many readers is because she tells stories about tough women. As she says: “My women characters kick ass, they don’t get their asses kicked.”
So does she have advice for a contemporary femme fatale? Of course. “Don’t give up too much on a first date. Don’t wear clothes that are too revealing. Always leave him wanting more.”
‘Bates Motel’ prequel series starts next week on A&E
March 12, 2013 by
I’m looking forward to watching “Bates Motel,” A&E’s prequel series inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960). Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore star; the series starts March 18.
“I got into this wanting to defend who that woman was,” says Farmiga, as quoted in Entertainment Weekly earlier this year. “[In the show] she was just such a beautiful portrait of valiant maternity to me … [it’s] a beautiful love letter between a mother and her son, and that’s that’s how I perceive the character. There’s an Edvard Munch painting of the Madonna. It’s really warped and it kind of exudes the sacred and the profane and it’s just psychologically gripping, and that’s what I was so drawn to with Norma. She’s a playground for an actress.”
You can see a preview of the series here. And for now I’m putting roadtrips on the back burner.
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