Given the challenges that many migrants face when traveling to a new land, it makes sense to assume that they’re fleeing harrowingly nightmarish realities. But the scenes that director Matteo Garrone uses to open his heartrending Io Capitano are far from nightmarish. Garrone’s big-dreaming migrant characters aren’t running away from something so much as they’re running toward it. The possibility that their goal is little more than a mirage makes this epic tale’s often horrendous journey even more wrenching.
The Dakar neighborhood where teenaged Seydou (Seydou Sarr) lives with his mother (Ndeye Khady Sy) and siblings is a chaotic sprawl of ramshackle buildings and bustling markets. A street party practically explodes as a spectacle of drumming, dancing, and colorful homemade couture. Though the Dakar of the film is clearly poor, with few modern conveniences and not much of a job market, it hardly seems the...
The Dakar neighborhood where teenaged Seydou (Seydou Sarr) lives with his mother (Ndeye Khady Sy) and siblings is a chaotic sprawl of ramshackle buildings and bustling markets. A street party practically explodes as a spectacle of drumming, dancing, and colorful homemade couture. Though the Dakar of the film is clearly poor, with few modern conveniences and not much of a job market, it hardly seems the...
- 2/11/2024
- by Chris Barsanti
- Slant Magazine
Even if the critical reactions have been mixed, Italian films have proven much stronger than usual at this year’s Venice Film Festival, with a notable resurgence of genre filmmaking in the likes of Adagio and Enea. Ironically, Matteo Garrone, the one local director in the selection whose actual stock in trade is genre of all stripes — gangster realism, satirical comedy (Reality), and baroque fantasy (Tale of Tales) — arrived this year with a blisteringly topical drama that might be his most traditional, and best, yet.
Migrant dreams are a hot topic this year, and Garrone’s Io Capitano (literally “Me Captain”) follows hard on the heels of Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border, which covers the same topic from a different angle: where Holland’s film deals with the experience of immigrants as they arrive in Europe, Garrone’s film fills in some of that backstory, showing the punishing...
Migrant dreams are a hot topic this year, and Garrone’s Io Capitano (literally “Me Captain”) follows hard on the heels of Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border, which covers the same topic from a different angle: where Holland’s film deals with the experience of immigrants as they arrive in Europe, Garrone’s film fills in some of that backstory, showing the punishing...
- 9/6/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Fast friendships formed during the idyllic getaways of carefree vacations can have a way of souring when reassessed in the starker light of the real world. Though that’s an understatement compared to the blood-curdling horror in store for an innocent Danish family in Speak No Evil, when they reconnect on less neutral ground with a Dutch couple they first encountered amid the rolling green hills of Tuscany. Christian Tafdrup’s satire of how socially conditioned middle-class politeness can dull our self-protection instincts is effective as a startling shot of inhuman cruelty, even if its vicious conclusion is short on psychological illumination.
Acquired out of Sundance’s Midnight section by AMC’s horror platform Shudder for release in North America, the U.K. and Ireland later this year, the film’s elegance makes its savagery even more disturbing. Inching under the viewer’s skin at first with an uncomfortable situation...
Acquired out of Sundance’s Midnight section by AMC’s horror platform Shudder for release in North America, the U.K. and Ireland later this year, the film’s elegance makes its savagery even more disturbing. Inching under the viewer’s skin at first with an uncomfortable situation...
- 2/2/2022
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Welcome back to Cannes Check, In Contention's annual preview of the films in Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 14. Taking on different selections every day, we'll be examining what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Jane Campion's jury. Next up, the Competition's only African entry: Abderrahmane Sissako's "Timbuktu." The director: Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauritanian/French, 52 years old). Another of this year's five newcomers, Sissako has established himself as one of Africa's premier auteurs, though he's been based in France since the early 1990s -- a background that complements his favored themes of globalization and outsider identity. Born in Mauritania, he moved with his family at an early age to Mali, where he completed his schooling, before studying film at Russia's Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow -- an institution that also boasts Aleksandr Sokurov and Andrei Tarkovsky among its alumni.
- 5/12/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Dennis Lehane will write the English-language remake of Un prophète (A Prophet). The original 2009 film directed by Jacques Audiard, followed an Arab man who became a gang kingpin after being sent to a French prison. Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi and Reda Kateb starred. Neal H. Moritz produces the remake. Lehane is the author of the Martin Scorsese-directed Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley, as well as Clint Eastwood's Mystic River starring Sean Penn and Ben Affleck-directed Gone Baby Gone frontlined by brother Casey Affleck.
- 10/29/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Sony has picked up rights to remake the 2010 film French title The Prophet, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. Variety reports that Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe are producing the film. The announcement of the project was made by Doug Belgrad, Columbia Pictures president, as well as Hannah MInghella, Columbia's president of production. It's not surprising since A Prophet was distributed Stateside by Sony Pictures Classics. That film starred Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi and Reda Kateb, and told of an Arab man who becomes a gang kingpin after being sent to a French prison.
- 6/5/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
This is the Pure Movies review of A Prophet, directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb and Jean-Philippe Ricci. Reviewed by award-winning screenwriter Garth Twa. There’s something like a birth at the beginning of Jacques Audiard’s new film, A Prophet. We glimpse a confusing world of disembodied sounds and blurry, obscured images, like we’ve just arrived, like we’re seeing things through a sack on a hostage’s head, or, indeed, a fallopian tube. Malik (Tahar Rahim) appears in this prison which is the whole world, like a newborn, with no discernable past. He is has no friends, no family, no religion that he seems conscious of, Euro-less, illiterate. He’s been sentenced to six years, though we never find out what for. Everything he is, which isn’t much, and everything he’ll become, which is formidable,...
- 10/2/2010
- by Garth Twa
- Pure Movies
Without a doubt, Jacques Audiard's Un prophète is bound to become a classic of crime drama. Obviously, this French film doesn't reinvent the genre of films that take place in prisons. However, the film astonishes because it manages to put substance over useless grittiness.
The story introduces us to Malik (Tahar Rahim), an illiterate nineteen-year-old boy of Arabic heritage who was sentenced to six years. On the day he becomes considered as an adult by French laws, Malik is transferred to a prison for adults. Once inside, Malik has the feeling that he doesn't fit in. Indeed, despite his heritage, Malik is not accepted by the prisoners of Arabic heritage, because he's not much of a Muslim.
Then enters César Luciani (Niels Arestrup), the leader of a group of convicts who are members of the Corsican mafia. Obviously, César takes Malik under his wing and guarantees him protection. In exchange for that,...
The story introduces us to Malik (Tahar Rahim), an illiterate nineteen-year-old boy of Arabic heritage who was sentenced to six years. On the day he becomes considered as an adult by French laws, Malik is transferred to a prison for adults. Once inside, Malik has the feeling that he doesn't fit in. Indeed, despite his heritage, Malik is not accepted by the prisoners of Arabic heritage, because he's not much of a Muslim.
Then enters César Luciani (Niels Arestrup), the leader of a group of convicts who are members of the Corsican mafia. Obviously, César takes Malik under his wing and guarantees him protection. In exchange for that,...
- 8/31/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
Chicago – One of the best films of the last several years was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics in the riveting, remarkable, and simply amazing “A Prophet.” The winner of dozens of international awards and an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, “A Prophet” is only starting to make waves stateside. As more and more people catch on to the film through its Blu-ray and DVD release and word-of-mouth spreads, the film will develop the following it deserves. Movies This good always do.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
What’s so remarkable about “A Prophet”? Let the hyperbole begin. No film has ever documented the transformation a man goes through from a simple thug to a notorious criminal in the same naturalistic, riveting detail as this one. Sure, “GoodFellas” is a masterpiece, but that’s a more stylized film. “A Prophet” captures something natural about how so...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
What’s so remarkable about “A Prophet”? Let the hyperbole begin. No film has ever documented the transformation a man goes through from a simple thug to a notorious criminal in the same naturalistic, riveting detail as this one. Sure, “GoodFellas” is a masterpiece, but that’s a more stylized film. “A Prophet” captures something natural about how so...
- 8/10/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Director: Jacques Audiard Writer: Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard (screenplay) Abdel Raouf Dafri Nicolas Peufaillit Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif Condemned to six years in prison for assault of a police officer (a crime he adamantly denies), 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) seems to have no friends or family inside or outside of the slammer. We know nothing of his history, but the scars on Malik’s face exemplify just how difficult his pre-prison life must have been. Taking into consideration his illiteracy, it seems as though French society has over-looked (or trampled over) him. If Malik truly was an innocent person, that innocence will be wiped from his soul as soon as he enters prison. (As Rahim portrays him, Malik is a blank slate whose body and soul will be molded and shaped by his experiences prison.) There are two distinct factions in prison: the Arabs and the Corsicans.
- 3/19/2010
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
In A Prophet (Un prophète), Malik El Djebena is a 19-year-old semi-delinquent who has just been sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a police officer, an offense he vehemently denies at first, until he realizes no one cares whether he did it or not. Malik enters the prison nervous, quiet, scared, his eyes conveying his fear. When the film ends, 2 1/2 hours later, that fear is gone.
Directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped), A Prophet might have been just another movie about what prison does to a person, were it not for the elements suggested by the title. Malik has what you might call a religious awakening while he's incarcerated -- not uncommon in itself, but Malik's prophetic calling takes it a bit further.
Born in Morocco, Malik (played by Tahar Rahim) speaks French and Arabic. He's not a practicing Muslim,...
Directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped), A Prophet might have been just another movie about what prison does to a person, were it not for the elements suggested by the title. Malik has what you might call a religious awakening while he's incarcerated -- not uncommon in itself, but Malik's prophetic calling takes it a bit further.
Born in Morocco, Malik (played by Tahar Rahim) speaks French and Arabic. He's not a practicing Muslim,...
- 2/18/2010
- by Eric D. Snider
- Cinematical
Quickcard Review
A Prophet
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi
Running Time: 2 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG-13
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: France
Plot: Frenchman Malik El Djebena (Rahim) is part Arab and part Corsican. He’s put in prison for six years and must try to find his way, caught between two gangs. A mission to kill another prisoner leads him to attempt to rise up through the prison ranks and make a name for himself.
Who’S It For? Prisons and gangs. Those are the two key words for this flick. The film does take its time, so be prepared to really get to know Malik.
Overall
Malik is a scared 19-year-old who can’t read. You care for him. You root for him. There is nothing more important for this film than that quality. Even though he is asked to,...
A Prophet
Directed by: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi
Running Time: 2 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG-13
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: France
Plot: Frenchman Malik El Djebena (Rahim) is part Arab and part Corsican. He’s put in prison for six years and must try to find his way, caught between two gangs. A mission to kill another prisoner leads him to attempt to rise up through the prison ranks and make a name for himself.
Who’S It For? Prisons and gangs. Those are the two key words for this flick. The film does take its time, so be prepared to really get to know Malik.
Overall
Malik is a scared 19-year-old who can’t read. You care for him. You root for him. There is nothing more important for this film than that quality. Even though he is asked to,...
- 2/11/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
- 1/26/2010
- by blakecgriffin@gmail.com (Blake Griffin)
- The Movie Fanatic
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
- 1/26/2010
- by blakecgriffin@gmail.com (Blake Griffin)
- The Movie Fanatic
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
- 1/26/2010
- by blakecgriffin@gmail.com (Blake Griffin)
- The Movie Fanatic
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
- 1/26/2010
- by blakecgriffin@gmail.com (Blake Griffin)
- The Movie Fanatic
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema
- - -
Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).
What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look...
- 1/26/2010
- by blakecgriffin@gmail.com (Blake Griffin)
- The Movie Fanatic
A classic French thriller with racial overtones from the director of The Beat That My Heart Skipped. By Peter Bradshaw
Du Rififi Chez les Hommes was the full title of Jules Dassin's classic tough-guy thriller from 1955 – aggro among men. Here, it is more a case of Rififi Among Men and God alike, in a blisteringly powerful prison-gangster picture from the French director Jacques Audiard. It comports itself like a modern classic from the very first frames, instantly hitting its massively confident stride. This is the work of the rarest kind of film-maker, the kind who knows precisely what he is doing and where he is going. The film's every effect is entirely intentional.
Newcomer Tahar Rahim plays Malik El Djebena, a young Arab guy about to start a six-year stretch in prison for what appears to be violence against police officers. He is a 19-year-old petty criminal, and this...
Du Rififi Chez les Hommes was the full title of Jules Dassin's classic tough-guy thriller from 1955 – aggro among men. Here, it is more a case of Rififi Among Men and God alike, in a blisteringly powerful prison-gangster picture from the French director Jacques Audiard. It comports itself like a modern classic from the very first frames, instantly hitting its massively confident stride. This is the work of the rarest kind of film-maker, the kind who knows precisely what he is doing and where he is going. The film's every effect is entirely intentional.
Newcomer Tahar Rahim plays Malik El Djebena, a young Arab guy about to start a six-year stretch in prison for what appears to be violence against police officers. He is a 19-year-old petty criminal, and this...
- 1/21/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A Prophet
Opens: February 12th 2010
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb
Director: Jacques Audiard
Summary: Sent to prison, Malik El Djebena falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins their confidence but uses his intelligence to discreetly develop his own network.
Analysis: Finally scoring a limited release in the Us in February, Jacques Audiard's violent and hard-edged prison drama won the Grand Prix at Cannes, scored Best Film at the London Film Festival, and is already the hotly tipped favourite to take the Oscar for Best Foreign Film late next month.
Reviews have been stellar around the world for the film which quickly became the most universally admired entry in the often hotly contentious first week of Cannes back in May. From a breakout performance by Tahar Rahim,...
Opens: February 12th 2010
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb
Director: Jacques Audiard
Summary: Sent to prison, Malik El Djebena falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins their confidence but uses his intelligence to discreetly develop his own network.
Analysis: Finally scoring a limited release in the Us in February, Jacques Audiard's violent and hard-edged prison drama won the Grand Prix at Cannes, scored Best Film at the London Film Festival, and is already the hotly tipped favourite to take the Oscar for Best Foreign Film late next month.
Reviews have been stellar around the world for the film which quickly became the most universally admired entry in the often hotly contentious first week of Cannes back in May. From a breakout performance by Tahar Rahim,...
- 1/2/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Hollywood's red carpet gets wider next year, with twice as many best picture nominees. From Harlem to Iraq, Disney fantasy to star-studded musical, we look at the main contenders and anticipate a year of true diversity
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the best picture category at the 2010 Oscars would be widened from five to 10 nominees, a leading American producer, here for the recent London film festival, told me bullishly: "You'd have to really screw up to not get nominated this time."
He shall remain nameless, mainly because, as awards season got under way last week with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominees, his film appears to be one of the most overlooked. Somewhere along the line, he just might have screwed up. But has the return to the pre-1944 era (when 10 or 12 films were often included) really sparked a race for films not...
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the best picture category at the 2010 Oscars would be widened from five to 10 nominees, a leading American producer, here for the recent London film festival, told me bullishly: "You'd have to really screw up to not get nominated this time."
He shall remain nameless, mainly because, as awards season got under way last week with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominees, his film appears to be one of the most overlooked. Somewhere along the line, he just might have screwed up. But has the return to the pre-1944 era (when 10 or 12 films were often included) really sparked a race for films not...
- 12/21/2009
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Sony Picture Classics has released the first international trailer for Jacques Audiard's A Prophet. The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes in May and has been heralded by many as being one of the best films of the year.
The film stars Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi and Jean-Philippe Ricci and tells the story of Malik, a young Arab incarcerated for six years after being convicted of a petty crime. On the inside he quickly learns the prisoners rules and finds himself under threat from the Corsican don, César. César offers him the choice of killing Reyeb, an enemy of theirs, or dying. Malik chooses to kill Reyeb, only to be haunted by his memory, and from then on his respect, confidence and criminal network continue to grow, leading him to the top of an organization he forged from the inside.
>> Real the...
The film stars Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi and Jean-Philippe Ricci and tells the story of Malik, a young Arab incarcerated for six years after being convicted of a petty crime. On the inside he quickly learns the prisoners rules and finds himself under threat from the Corsican don, César. César offers him the choice of killing Reyeb, an enemy of theirs, or dying. Malik chooses to kill Reyeb, only to be haunted by his memory, and from then on his respect, confidence and criminal network continue to grow, leading him to the top of an organization he forged from the inside.
>> Real the...
- 12/14/2009
- Screenrush
On Wednesday the Sundance Film Festival unveiled the films competing in late January 2010. Yesterday they announced the rest of the line-up of independent films vying for attention for industry types and the curious public.
The entire list of 53 films is below, but here are a few that stood out to me from the premieres alone:
Mumblecore directors the Duplass Brothers, have a new, untitled movie starring an unusually high-profile cast compared to their usual improvisational crew. John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. Reilly and Keener are actually in two films at the 2010 festival.
The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt about corporate downsizing.
Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried alive in a coffin. I’ve read the script and its great. More on that as soon as I can.
The Runaways, the...
The entire list of 53 films is below, but here are a few that stood out to me from the premieres alone:
Mumblecore directors the Duplass Brothers, have a new, untitled movie starring an unusually high-profile cast compared to their usual improvisational crew. John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. Reilly and Keener are actually in two films at the 2010 festival.
The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt about corporate downsizing.
Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried alive in a coffin. I’ve read the script and its great. More on that as soon as I can.
The Runaways, the...
- 12/5/2009
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
We are 49 days out and counting down to Sundance 2010. Yesterday, we unveiled the list of competition films for the upcoming festival. Today, we have your list of out-of-competition films which include Premieres, Spotlight, New Frontier, and, my personal favorite, Park City at Midnight, which has featured past entries like Black Dynamite, The Descent, and Saw.
Check out next year’s lineup for the out-of-competition films:
Premieres
To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)–A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere
Cane Toads:...
Check out next year’s lineup for the out-of-competition films:
Premieres
To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)–A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere
Cane Toads:...
- 12/4/2009
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Yesterday we got the list for the films playing in competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and today we get the rest of the films that will be featured and there are quite a few that make 2010 look much stronger based on pedigree alone than I have seen in quite some time. Variety has a big write-up detailing the categories and more on the festival right here, but I am just going to offer up the titles and let you sort it all out.
The titles already in the RopeofSilicon database are linked.
Premieres
All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted Abel (Mexico-u.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over the responsibilities of a family man in his father's absence. With Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi,...
The titles already in the RopeofSilicon database are linked.
Premieres
All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted Abel (Mexico-u.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over the responsibilities of a family man in his father's absence. With Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi,...
- 12/3/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
In addition to the competition titles which were announced yesterday, Sundance has announced the remainder of their line-up and it includes some titles we’re already familiar with along with a huge number of premieres.
Also on the docket are two new series: Next which showcases low/no budget films and Spotlight which highlights films which festival programmers deem worthy of extra love including Enter the Void (review) and Lourdes (the trailer for which I really liked).
I’m particularly excited to see some of the titles in the New Frontier program but overall, the line-up is an impressive one but the Kristen Stewart fan in me is excited to see her turn as Joan Jett in The Runaways and I think it’s fair to say we’re all dying to see Vincenzo Natali’s hotly anticipated Splice (trailer).
In the Midnight section, Adam Green's Frozen is sounding mighty find,...
Also on the docket are two new series: Next which showcases low/no budget films and Spotlight which highlights films which festival programmers deem worthy of extra love including Enter the Void (review) and Lourdes (the trailer for which I really liked).
I’m particularly excited to see some of the titles in the New Frontier program but overall, the line-up is an impressive one but the Kristen Stewart fan in me is excited to see her turn as Joan Jett in The Runaways and I think it’s fair to say we’re all dying to see Vincenzo Natali’s hotly anticipated Splice (trailer).
In the Midnight section, Adam Green's Frozen is sounding mighty find,...
- 12/3/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Sundance released their slate for 2010. It includes:43 documentaries on the Middle East12 films about friends who 'discover' something33 movies about people you've never heard about1 comedyHopefully the lineup this year is strong but it doesn't look that way compared to last year. Last year we had Push (Precious), that Lil Wayne documentary that never went anywhere, Mystery Team which might make my top ten, Moon, Mike Tyson documentary, Cold Souls. Just so much last January that was excellent. I hope I don't go out therer and freeze my tail off just to see...I don't know, a documentary about a former Pakistani prime minister or something silly like that.Here's the lineup so far: Premieres To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
- 12/3/2009
- LRMonline.com
The Sundance Film Festival's competition lineup for 2010, announced Wednesday, might demand that audiences wear their serious caps. But the out-of-competition selections allow programmers and viewers to cut loose a little.
The 53 films that populate this year's Premieres, Next, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections run the gamut from the cosmically experimental to the star-studded and silly. There is indeed something for everyone at this year's event, which runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
As usual, Premieres collects work involving the industry's higher-profile talent, none more so than John Wells' feature directorial debut, "The Company Men," which stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. Mexican actor Diego Luna's directorial debut, "Abel," will screen, as will Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Jack Goes Boating."
Michael Winterbottom has the rare distinction of having two films in...
The 53 films that populate this year's Premieres, Next, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections run the gamut from the cosmically experimental to the star-studded and silly. There is indeed something for everyone at this year's event, which runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
As usual, Premieres collects work involving the industry's higher-profile talent, none more so than John Wells' feature directorial debut, "The Company Men," which stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. Mexican actor Diego Luna's directorial debut, "Abel," will screen, as will Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Jack Goes Boating."
Michael Winterbottom has the rare distinction of having two films in...
- 12/3/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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