PARIS MOVIE REPORT (May 2012)

Several new releases in Paris this week. Our two American hits, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and TO ROME WITH LOVE, were not well received by the French critics but a tiny indie picture shot in Mississippi, unreleased here, did well critically. Highest honors went to the edgy and wildly surreal French film, in competition at Cannes, Leos Carax's HOLY MOTORS.

À l'affiche cette semaine... [some of these are UGC blurbs]
Bons plans
HOLY MOTORS
de Leos Carax
Une ode au cinéma et aux comédiens, par l'enfant maudit du cinéma français. Un des films remarqués du Festival de Cannes, cette année.
"An ode to the movies and actors, by the bad boy of French cinema. One of the most talked about films of the Cannes Film Festival this year."
This is the one that Mike D'Angelo rated through the roof and talked a lot about.
ALLOCINÉ rating 4.2. Higher than any of the others I just listed, of which the highest was THE AVENGERS (4.0).

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
de Marc Webb
Changement de casting mais toujours aussi spectaculaire. Laissez-vous prendre dans sa toile!
"New cast but just as spectacular as ever. Let yourself be caught in his web!"
The Paris critics have not been enthusiastic about the new SPIDER-MAN.
ALLOCINÉ: 2.9. Ouch! Even ON THE ROAD got 3.0. They felt it needed to be more original and astounding to compete with the Sam Raimi films and found this retreeam limited and lacking in boldness. A few felt the warmth of the romance and admired Garfield.

A PART DES ANGES
[Engish title: THE ANGEL'S SHARE]
de Ken Loach
[UGC email:] Nous vous rappelons notre valeur sûre de la semaine dernière. L'insubmersible Ken Loach est toujours au rendez-vous, alliant avec maestria engagement social et humour.
"We remind you of our good value from last week. The indomintable Ken Loach is always on hand, masterfully matching social consciousness and humor."
ALLOCINÉ: 3.4
This did well at Cannes but Mike D'Angelo felt it was overrated there. His Tweet on it: "The Angels' Share (Loach): 56. Puckish light commercial comedy with some big laughs and a Hollywood-ready contrived plot. Mild fun."

TO ROME WITH LOVEA
de Woody Allen
ALLOCINÉ: 2.7.
Again, ouch! Looks like the French have abandoned their adored Woody this time. LES INROCKUPTIBLES calls this "the laziest of Woody's Euromovies." They have not received our American hits well this week.

INSIDE by Andrés Baiz. Thriller in Spanish from Colombia.
ALLOCINÉ 3.0.
Some viewed it as a standard thriller that tells a tense tale but keeps the social background and characgter development too thin. The English titles of this is THE HIDDEN FACE, Spanish, LA CARA OCCULTA (The Dark Side) . Summary: "A Spanish orchestra conductor deals with the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend."

SUMMERTIME by Matthew Gordon.
An indie "southern Gothic" American coming-of-ager set in Mississippi, No US release yet. This was reviewed by VARIETY at the Berlinale Feb. 2011 and he wrote, "A low-key cousin to films like Ballast' and 'Shotgun Stories' pic captures the rhythm and texture of its environment but is too understated in the telling, owing largely to an ensemble of non-pro locals who look the part but lack the charisma to make us care. "
ALLOCINÉ: 3.5.
Described as a "promising debut."

Wes Anderson's newest is the best film I've seen so far this year.
It's a lock for a Best Picture nomination. Even now in July.
It's an amazing movie, alright.
A match struck in a dark cave.
My faith in cinema is always tested, but movies like this one bring it all back home.

I had a grin or a smile or a smirk on my face for the entire movie.

I was grinning all through, or smiling. It does that, makes you smile.
It is the best American film of 2012 so far, and I don't know what competition it will have. I need to start a "Best Movies of 2012...so far" list.

Here it is:

BEST MOVIES OF 2012 SO FAR

Released Oct. 6, 2012 in NYC. This has 16 reviews listed on Metacritic and a collective rating of 81. That puts it in the top 30 or so critically rated films of the year. Of narrative features it's one of a much smaller number.

The official US trailer of SISTER is on YouTube here. Exclusive clip from the film here.

Jeff Lipsky's Adopt Films is the US distributor. Check out Adopt Film's rolling release schedule throughout the US and see if it is coming to your area.

Make every effort to see this great film.

Note Kacey Mottet Klein was in Meier's first film HOME, he had never acted and was discovered for this film, and she liked him so much she decided to write a film for him and that became L'ENFANT D'EN HAUT (SISTER). He was 8 in HOME and 12 when they made SISTER.

http://imageshack.us/a/img141/129/ka...eindsc0594.jpg
Kacey at an early public appearance after
the release of HOME.

Jeff Lipsky is hoping that SISTER will be Switzerland's entry for the Best Foreign Oscar and they will campaign for Agnes Godard to be nominated for Best Cinematographer. If she won she would be the first woman to win this award.

http://imageshack.us/a/img248/8825/5...3675913711.jpg
From Facebook, Kacey in front of a poster of his film. Probably in Paris at the time of release there.

This is to inform viewers that SISTER/L'ENFANT D'EN HAUT (Ursula Meier) -- see the post above and my review -- is now available streaming (Instant Play) on Netflix and I highly recommend watching it if you have not.