Foreign

'Albatross' directed by Niall MacCormick

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Lolita strikes again

Albatross brings back the stunning British actrees Felicity Jones in another Lolita tale set in the Isle of Man. A secondary school dropout named Emelia begins working at a local B&B owned by a German writer named Jonathan Fischer. Jonathan is married to Joa and has two daughters, Beth and Posy. The teenage Beth befriends Emelia and the two girls begin to enjoy what they can of a life in a place with no prospects. We later learn that Emelia is an orphan. Her mother committed suicide and her father is nowehere to be found.

'London Boulevard' directed by William Monaha

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
One of Colin Farrell's attempts for a comeback as a serious actor

Colin Farrell returns to drama as part of his orchestrated comeback in London Boulevard as an ex-con named Mitchel who wants to go straight working as the bodyguard for an English actress named Charlotte (Keira Knightley). Mitchell just spent three years for a violent assault and his past can never let him go. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, Farrell gives us a taste of the rough streets of London and how it lures back a criminal trying to change his ways.

'Perfect Sense' directed by David MacKenzie

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Apocalyptic Aphrodisiac

If 2012 marks the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar then it may be time for some people to get busy. At least that is what the film Perfect Sense seems to suggests as a chef and scientist decide to indulge their carnal pleasure before December 21, 2012 … the last day on Earth. The winner of ‘Best New Film’ at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and a Sundance 2011 favorite, Perfect Sense brings together a chef named Michael who falls into a torrid affair with a scientist named Susan.

'Belle de Jour' directed by Luis Buñuel

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Afternoon delight

The classic film Belle de Jour marked the international breakthrough role of French film legend Catherine Deneuve. As the wife of a doctor, Deneuve plays Severine, a young woman fantasizing about S&M in a boring marriage. Her husband and her struggle with intimacy as Severine is unable to consummate their union. She expresses love for him but cannot go further than emotion. When Severine is introduced to a Parisian brothel by her male friend Husson she finds secret employment as an afternoon shift girl.

'Beloved' directed by Christophe Honoré

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Ma mère moi-même

French film legend Catherine Deneuve and her real life daughter Chiara Mastroianni come together in Beloved. The story begins in 1964 Paris when a happy-go-lucky prostitute named Madeleine falls for her client, a Czech doctor named Jaronil. Madeleine’s life is a series of whimsical moments where she goes with the flow to unusual results. It all begins when she steals a pair of pricey shoes and is mistaken for a high priced call girl and plays along after a man solicits her. Before she knows it Madeleine has become an escort instead of a street walker.

'Declaration of War' directed by Valerie Donzelli

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Baby ... please don't go

Once you see this film you will want to become a lifetime patron for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. In Declaration of War, watching the trauma and terror of having a child with cancer may compel you to want to fight against childhood cancer with a vengeance. Cancer is a ridiculously democratic malignancy. It will strike anyone regardless of age, gender, class, income, popularity, etc. Cancer has no mercy nor does it play favorites. Once it has chosen someone, even a child, it wrecks emotional havoc on everyone affected.

'The Conquest' directed by Xavier Durringer

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
Does the French President have a Napoleon complex?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy gets the Napoleon treatment with The Conquest. Luckily for Xavier Durringer it’s not the Emperor who is running France anymore so he will keep his head after making this film. Sarkozy would make Bonaparte proud. Not only did the current French President score former model and sexpot Carla Bruni, but he is quite the ambitious one. Fortunately for Sarkozy, he has the help of his entourage and he appears to not have the mania that the Corsican General suffered from and lead him to his exile.

'Young Goethe in Love' directed by Philipp Stölzl

2/6/2012
Jackie Morrison
The German Bard

So it seems that the trick to becoming a literary genius of historical proportions requires one to be devastated and heartbroken. That is certainly the message from Young Goethe in Love, Germany’s answer to Shakespeare. As you may recall, young William became the Bard of epic proportions when he too lost his beloved to another man in the Virginia colony. So heartbroken was young William that he immortalized his lost love in Romeo & Juliet, or so the movie tells us.

Film Review 'Inside I'm Dancing' directed by Damien O'Donnell

1/12/2012
Jackie Morrison
Breaking free is never easy

James McAvoy is a Scottish actor with an international appeal and broad range. No one else would have stepped into the shoes of Sir Patrick Stewart for X-Men: First Class other than him. McAvoy may seem like he is boyishly charming but he has an incredible depth and agility that is seen in every role. The 2004 Irish film Inside I’m Dancing was a touching display of McAvoy’s capacity as a disabled man in an institution. His character Rory O’Shea is a man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who changes the hopes of those around him.

Film Friday: ‘Le Trou’ directed by Jacques Becker

10/28/2011
Daniel S Levine

Director Jacques Becker is not on most lists of the best or most well-known French directors, but three of his films have become well regarded classics.

Casque d’or (1952) helped Simone Signoret become a world wide star, while Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954; Don’t Touch the Loot in English) has gone down as one of the best gangster pictures to come out of France. However, it might be his final film, Le Trou, made in 1960, that has kept his name and work alive.

Syndicate content