Father Geek here with the new Euro-AICN column for this week; lots of news, lots of pictures, and lots of interesting links... check it all out... Buuuuuut 1st here's a review of the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film that landed on Ol' Father Geek's desk a few seconds ago...
Hi there, E.T here, thought you'd like a "AMELIE" review from France...? now my english is not all that good , so I'm sorry for any mistakes I've made...
Caution, this film is going to still your heart... and your gonna love it. For his return in France, Jean-Pierre Jeunet has made most incredible of movies: LE FABULEUX DESTIN D'AMELIE POULAIN (Amelie Poulain's wonderful destiny) won't an gigantic voyage into cyberspace, but a one way ticket to intimisy, and deepest emotion.To tell Amelie's story, 20 years old, a big hearted waitress who wants to do good all around her, Jeunet isn't shy on money nor on his own obsesions: the unforgotten old Paris filled with memories, the unbelievable building neighboors, the obsession of every day happiness... Sort of a "Reader's Digest" of Jeunet's sub-conscience, Amelie promises a roller-coaster ride of Happiness.
And there we go, as of the first seconds of the movie, Amelie's youth goes in accelerated speed. The anecdote with Jeunet is that he always shows the character's childhood with joy, but also real sadness. Adult, independent and living in her appartement of the XVIII° precing of Paris, Amelie is later gonna plan incredible things to help everyone she knows. There is the Cafe manager (lady) whose looking for love without knowing; there is the drugstore seller whose being humiliated by almost everyone; or even "land-lady" who never got over her lovers departure... BUT when its her turn to help herself with a love story with a young boy who collects abandon ID photos, Amelie is going to push to the last moment the promised happiness...
Filled with everyday scene of atmospheric tension, coulored in "sepia", the movie calls the imagination and the poetry within everyone. Even though Jeunet shoots the most rotten side of Paris, his love for people's faces (as in great carismatic characters) his content jump to a univers where time stands still (when in the heck are we??) and his unexblicable taste for everyday poetry is always "said" better than shown...
On top of a fagile but moving masterpiece, full of humain-like humor, Audery Tautou is ravashing, her face can as of now be placed in the monument of cinema as one of the most unexplicable but loved actresses... her Amelie is a charater as we never dremed of... only one glence at the kiss sequence is enough to make you dream about her for ever. I can't even begin to talk to you about the other characters, don't even think of getting started!! they're beautiful! This film will get you out of your world long long after the time you walked out the theater...
Father Geek back... Edgard has some pics from this flick below... It looks and sounds very cooooool! A new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, WOW!!! CITY OF THE LOST CHILDREN is one of my all time favorite films. Now on with our report direct from beautiful Paris. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Spring, the street cafes teeming with life and love......
EURO AICN
Hi people... Edgard here with the latest Euro news... I don't know how it is in your garden but here in Paris Spring has finally arrived... blue sky, sun... everybody is out in the streets, you can sit and have a good beer outside, if the roads were not floaded you could walk along the Seine... wonderful... I bet today all the movie theatres of Paris are empty... you can love cinema as much as you want, but there's nothing better than the pleasure of the first day of good weather after a long rainy winter... so my intro will be short because I am on my way out again...
Here're the news from France, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands... hope you find something interesting in there...
FRANCE
* Adrien sent us the poster of the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet film : LE FABULEUX DESTIN D'AMELIE POULAIN... it will be released in France at the end of April; the two first reviews I read in movie magazine are totally ecstatic. Both Studio and Ciné Live are talking about a masterpiece... It seems that Jeunet managed to mix poetry and technology in a wonderful tale of love and dreams... I certainly can't wait to see that one... If you're curious to see more pictures of the film (like the one here below), or to get screensavers or trailers, get to the official website at : This Location (only in French).
* Another big release of this month is YAMAKASI, the new "Luc Besson Production" about a group of young boys jumping from one building to another in Paris... From the trailer it smells like TAXI (stupid cops, cool youngsters, action, humor, etc...), so we can expect another big success for Besson. As usually the press didn't see it in advance so we'll have to wait until Wednesday to know more about it. Meanwhile the trailer and more stuffs are available on the website : Right Here
* Grozilla sent us some important questions about Coppola's ON THE ROAD : In a diary to be published next tuesday in "Les inrockuptibles", Marianne Faithfull writes about a dinner with Roman Coppola and says that he told her he has at last found money to put his On the road on trails. Well, I thought this was a Francis Ford Coppola's project. Has he given it to his son ? Did Lady Marianne get the wrong word ? Was he Talking about his father ?
* Also sent by Grozilla, comes this information on a very interesting Festival called "Extreme Cinema", which approaches a different kind of cinema and will be organised in the Cinémathèque de Toulouse from June 18 to 30. This year's theme will be the monstruosity (physical and moral).
Here's a first look at the programme, you will see movies like : The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (R.Wiene); Even Dwarfs Started Small (W.Herzog); Elephant man (D.Lynch); Freaks (T.Browning); Santa sangre (A.Jodorowsky); Gummo (H.Korine); Clean shaven (L.Kerrigan); Sick (K.Dick); Bad boy bubby (R. de Heer); Tetsuo (S.Tsukamoto); Toxic Avenger (L.Kaufman & M. Herz); Kenny (C.Gagnères); The Island of Dr. Moreau (J.Frankenheimer); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (T.Hooper);... and much more (also some short films, children films and a tribute to - and in presence of - Frank Hennenlotter).
If you want to know more, send an email to : One of our Top Euro Fieldreporters
* Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks will be present on the Normandy beaches next June (more precisely on June 6th, the 57th Anniversary of the D-Day) to present their WW2 TV serie BAND OF BROTHERS. This preview will take place in a 1000 seats auditorium especially built for this occasion on Utah's beach. BAND OF BROTHERS is one of the most expensive TV serie ever produced (120 millions $ for 10 episodes) and will be aired on US TV from September 9th... later in Europe.
* A bunch of trailer & pictures links on the French website www.premiere.fr
- This week, BELPHEGOR will be unleashed in France. Adapted from a very popular TV show from the mid 60s, the film stars Sophie Marceau. If you want to check out the full trailer and five clips from the movie, use this direct link: Go to The Site
.- We've just posted 5 new photo galleries:
JOHN Q, with Denzel Washington, directed by Nick Cassavetes: Click Right Here
SIMONE, with Al Pacino, directed by Andrew Niccol: Its Here
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, with Rupert Everett & Kathy Bates, directed by P.J. Hogan: Click Here.
JASON X, with five stills at this location: Go Here
THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY with a not so clothed Jessica Alba here: Just Click to See.
THE MUMMY RETURNS : Check them out with this direct link: Click Here
- This one was already introduced to you by Harry last week, but in case you missed it : the full PEARL HARBOR trailer is on the site. 3 beautiful quicktime sizes, and in english. Check it out here: Just by Clicking and please use this direct link.
UK
* After U-571, here comes another historical debate on WW2 and Americans/Europeans activities. The following is an article taken on the Empire website (www.empireonline.co.uk
SPAIN
* After the "bomb shot", David sent us the poster and a picture from Guillermo Del Toro's THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE :
IRELAND
* ShowBizIreland.com has got the first exclusive pictures of Hollywood star Jason Patric (star of Speed 2, The Lost Boys and Rush) in a new role in Dublin's Gate Theatre. Michael McDermott reviews his performance...
Ordinary lives and simple stories are the stock of Neil Labute's bash which received its Irish premiere on Wednesday night in Dublin's Gate Theatre. Hollywood star Jason Patric plays a nameless character telling the audience about how his family life, recalling teenage school experiences and Jason O'Mara (John) and Justine Mitchell (Sue) reminiscing about their high school romance. However, each of these three short stories Iphigenia in Orem, Medea Redux and A Gaggle of Saints contain a tortured twist, the flicker switch from quotidian mundanity to dark tragedy. Patric's character is guilt ridden over his child smothering to death, Flora Montgomery's (star of When Brendan Met Trudy, the recent film release based on Booker prize winning author Roddy Doyle) character reveals her teacher impregnated and abandoned her while John recounts how he beat up a gay person in a toilet in Central Park unknown to his girlfriend.
Written (and directed for the first time) by Labute, bash is a gripping take on middle-class America and the hidden surprises it contains beneath the seams. Bearing heavy influences of Raymond Carver, the language is gripping and taut, the observations razor- sharp and the performances are flawless interpretations. Casting glimmers of redemption into the first two monologues and contrasting heavy dollops of innocent 'mom and apple pie' hammer with the vicious attack in the third play, bash is a rare piece of theatre woven from the cloth which regular folk weave.
Full story : Is Available Here
GERMANY
* From Screendaily : Germany's leading film export Til Schweiger (Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Der Bewegte Mann) is to play the role of German boxing legend Max Schmeling in the $9m (DM 20m) Joe and Max which will begin shooting in Berlin under the direction of US filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) from this May. The story, about the rivalry and friendship between the heavyweight boxers Max Schmeling and Joe Louis during the 1930s and 40s is being produced by the German media fund IWP International West Pictures with US producer Brad Krevoy's Los Angeles-based MPCA (Screen Daily March 7, 2001). The role of Joe Louis has yet to be cast. Last year, Schweiger appeared alongside Nick Nolte, Neve Campbell and Jeremy Davies in Alan Rudolph's Investigating Sex which was co-produced by Gemini Film, one of IWP's founders. He is also one of the leads in Gregor Schnitzler's Was Tun, Wenn's Brennt for Deutsche Columbia Pictures Filmproduktion.
ITALY
* From Screendaily, the awards season isn't over yet : After awarding a slew of prizes last year to sleeper hit Bread And Tulips, Italy¹s film industry nominations again matched local box office success. Nanni Moretti¹s La Stanza del Figlio, Marco Tullio Giordana¹s The Hundred Steps and Gabriele Muccino¹s The Last Kiss led the nominations for Italy¹s Oscar equivalents, the David di Donatello awards, each receiving nominations for best film, best director, best script, best actor, best editor, and best producer. Moretti¹s film, a harrowing story about a family forced to cope with the death of a child, won a total of 12 nominations including best actress and best supporting actress. The Last Kiss, a bittersweet comedy which has so far made more than $10m at the local box office, and The Hundred Steps, Italy¹s foreign Oscar candidate and a strong performer on home territory, each received ten nods. With the leading trio¹s films all set in contemporary or recent times, period dramas had a rather tougher time. Veteran director Ettore Scola¹s Unfair Competition and Giuseppe Tornatore¹s Malena, both World War II stories, failed to win nods in any of the main categories. Both films won nominations for best photography, music and set design. Other nominations went to Margherita Buy, who will compete in the best actress category for Ferzan Ozpetek¹s Berlin competition title Ignorant Fairies, and Roberto Ando, Alex Infascelli and Rolando Stefanelli who are all nominated as best emerging director.
The awards ceremony will take place in Rome on April 10.
BELGIUM
* Belgian's most famous actor, Jean-Claude Van Damme, known also as "the muscles from Brussels", has decided to do something to re-start his carreer. His last real hit being 1994's TIMECOP, Van Damme knows that it's now or never : following the declarations of Pierce Brosnan to quit the James Bond tuxedo after the 20th film of the serie (which should be shooting next fall), JCVD has shown some interest about taking over the role of the most famous British spy. The Broccoli family did not confirm their interest yet, but MGM executives declared they were thrilled about the possibility to take the character of James Bond in a new direction, a more "physical" direction to be exact... Case to be followed...
THE NETHERLANDS
* If you were planning to go to the Netherlands next May in order to meet with C-3PO himself, well this is for you...
Hi! Do you have a news page where this might be posted. We gave them every opportunity and yet they failed to meet their obligations. We need to get the message out so those in Europe do not trvel to see Anthony at this event and be disappointed. We just want to show the next guy that we will indeed explain our side.
StarCon - The Netherlands
Due to the organizers of StarCon being unable to fulfill their side of agreements made to bring Anthony Daniels to their event, regrettably Anthony will not now be appearing there. All travel arrangements had been completed and it seemed that preparations were being made as agreed so, in good faith, Anthony allowed his name to be publicized in connection with the convention. But, despite deadlines being twice extended to assist the organizers, they still could not honour their commitments at this time. It has become clear that the event was not planned as had been anticipated and the decision has been made to clarify the current situation by withdrawing Anthony's services on this occasion. Anthony had been looking forward to meeting again some of the fans that he saw last year in Amsterdam. Fans who were expecting to see him in May this year will also be disappointed but hopefully this early announcement will allow them to make alternative arrangements for that weekend.
Beverly, Assistant to Anthony Daniels
