All posts by Eric Lavallee »
Fredrik Bond’s Debut Avoids “Necessary Death”; Charlie Countryman Finds Home at Millennium
A good five months since it premiered at a packed Eccles house in Park City, Deadline reports that Millennium Entertainment have picked up one of the worst films presented at this year’s Sundance paying
Read More »No Staginess on the Part of Sundance Selects; Polanski’s “Venus in Fur” Heads to U.S. Market
Unlike the beating he took for his stage to screen translation of God of Carnage with Carnage, Polanski’s Venus in Fur, a film that was scheduled so late in Cannes Film Festival’s Main Comp
Read More »Heli | Cannes Review
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control: Escalante’s Mexico Still Suffering Amat Escalante doesn’t fall far from his own tree with Heli, graphic violence once again contours what is necessarily difficult to fathom, swallow and
Read More »Gondry’s Mood Indigo Opens, while Wheatley, Edmands, Heinzerling Pack Karlovy Vary’s 48th Edition
Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo (L’écume des jours) was a surprise no-show in Cannes this year (his film debuted theatrically in France the previous month) but the stage is set for an opening gala opening
Read More »Exclusive Clip: Joel Edgerton Desperately Worried in Kieran Darcy-Smith’s Wish You Were Here
Kieran Darcy-Smith’s Wish You Were Here was formerly titled “Say Nothing” – a perhaps more fitting description for several sequences in this relationship busting, mystery drama that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back
Read More »Rock out with Your C*cks Out; XLrator Books Punk Rock Homage “CBGB” for October
The genre, mostly direct-to-vid label XLrator Media have made perhaps their most noteworthy purchase yet picking up the U.S. distribution rights to Randall Miller’s CBGB. While the distrib has set up an October release
Read More »Film Movement Form Unique Bond with Camera d’Or Winning “Ilo Ilo”
It’s not often when Singaporean cinema manages to break into our news headline stream, but on the heals of his Camera d’Or win (best debut film at the Cannes Film Festival – this includes the
Read More »Recap: Our Cannes Critics’ Panel think Latest Kechiche, Coens and Farhadi Were a Cut Above
Around the midway point of the fest, all indications told us that Asghar Farhadi’s The Past and the Coen bros. Inside Llewyn Davis would be a part of what is traditionally a two to
Read More »2013 Cannes Award Winners in Pictures: Triple Love for Kechiche, Exarchopoulos and Seydoux
It was to be expected the moment that the Best Actress prize was given to Bérénice Béjo (The Past), that the chances for Palme D’Or winner for Abdellatif Kechiche could materialize — but even
Read More »Our Panel Predicts Palme d’Or Win for Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour
We had an server hiccup exactly at the wrong time here in Cannes, but it’s worth saying that (check out our fancy graph below) out of 15 critics who supplied us with their predictions,
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel: Kechiche’s “Blue is the Warmest Colour” in a Class Apart
According to the sixteen critics on our panel, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour (which is already being considered to be the filmmaker’s masterwork) was an instant, almost across the board unanimous top
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 11: Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive
Those who’ll have stayed until the end of the fest (most in the industry skip town a good 48 hours prior to Sunday) will have reaped the rewards of what a good number critics
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 10: Gray’s The Immigrant
Handsome looking via the the talented Darius Khondji, high-end production value that some are mentioning as The Godfather Part II like, starring muse Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner and a Marion Cotillard who had to
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 9: Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Colour
Ang Lee won the Golden Lion at 2007′s Venice Film Festival for Lust, Caution, beating out Abdellatif Kechiche’s far more critically appreciated The Secret of the Grain (which would win best emerging actress and
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 7: Sorrentino’s La Grande Bellezza
One week into the fest and the double bill appears to be a strong one – we find Steven Soderbergh’s last feature film (I’m betting we won’t wait as long as Alejandro Jodorowsky to
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 5: Coen Bros.’ Inside Llewyn Davis
Almost fitting that it was raining “cats” and dogs during the queuing up portion to yesterday’s early-lead press screening at the Debussy for the Coen Bros.’ latest, perhaps riskiest film in recent memory includes
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 4: Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)
Benicio Del Toro plays a post-traumatic, migraine not-too-happy patient, while Mathieu Amalric takes on the role of the sympathetic, non-traditional psychotherapist in Arnaud Desplechin’s first foray into English-language territory. An oddly subdued, oddly titled
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 2: Amat Escalante’s Heli
By the fest’s end in about nine days from now, we might pointing to the first film that showed during the ’13 edition as the “L’enfant terrible” selection of the fest. Amat Escalante’s Heli
Read More »2013 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 2: Francois Ozon’s Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie)
For a third consecutive year, we bring back our twice daily, five-star system, critical snapshot of the Main Competition selected films (16 films in all) as rated by our group of 16 film critics.
Read More »Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Lynne Ramsay’s Swimmer
Swimmer – Lynne Ramsay Section: Directors’ Fortnight Buzz: Seeing that the wait time between films can be a lengthy one, We Need to Talk About Kevin director would be in the middle of lensing
Read More »Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Chloé Robichaud’s Sarah préfère la course
Sarah préfère la course – Chloé Robichaud Section: Un Certain Regard Buzz: The Quebecois wunderkind appears to have made quite the impression on the Cannes family, gaining entry into a coveted Un Certain Regard
Read More »Top 20 Alternative Picks for Cannes 2013: Amat Escalante’s Heli
Heli – Amat Escalante Section: Main Competition Buzz: Steadily guided by Cannes’ fest head honcho Thierry Fremieux, Amat Escalante receives a major big stage showing for his long-awaited third film (worth noting it was
Read More »Cannes 2013 Derby: Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grande Bellezza Tops Eric’s Palme d’Or Predictions
Before I even begin considering the offerings in the field of eighteen Main Competition items, it’s the composition of the jury members (team of nine lead by Steven Spielberg) where my dissection begins. While
Read More »





































