TWO IN THE WAVE
Emmanuel Laurent’s brief introduction to the relationship of French New Wave progenitors Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Goddard tip-toes too lightly…
French Cinema
OSS 117: LOST IN RIO
Boosting its rejuvenation of the ’60s French spy spoof franchise, this sequel to “OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies” (2006)…
MICMACS
With this level of cartoonish creation, the film would’ve worked better had it been animated. But it still wouldn’t be…
THE GOOD HEART
“The Good Heart” isn’t a good movie, but it does have two good performances. Cole Smithey.
THE THORN IN MY HEART
Michel Gondry is king of the wet-fart movie. Cole Smithey.
A PROPHET
Unrelentingly intense from start to finish, Jacques Audiard’s bold examination of the modern-day French prison system hinges on its central…
DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM
This sequel to the 2004 film that turned audiences on to the urban obstacle sport of parkour is at least…
UN CHIEN ANDALOU — CLASSIC FILM PICK
Black and White, Capsules Blog, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Social Satire, Spanish Cinema, Surrealism, Transgressive Cinema
Before their volatile relationship between Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali soured, the two surrealists created cinema’s purest example of surrealism…
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Master filmmaker Andre Techine (“Les Egares,” 2002) presents a deceptively minimalist story of a French girl’s false allegations regarding an…
PARIS
French auteur Cedric Klapisch achieves a sublime use of the City of Lights as a living and breathing body of…
THE GIRL FROM MONACO
A clever genre-blender from Anne Fontaine, “The Girl From Monaco” is a romantic satire that achieves a delicate balance of…
THE BEACHES OF AGNES
Capsules Blog, Documentary, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Video Essay, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema
At 80, French New Wave legend Agnes Varda creates a lucid and passionate cinematic memoir that is transformative in its…
SERAPHINE
In writer/director Martin Provost’s patiently restrained biopic about the self-trained French painter Seraphine Louis, the audience is brought increasingly closer…
SERAPHINE
In writer/director Martin Provost’s patiently restrained biopic about the self-trained French painter Seraphine Louis, the audience is brought increasingly closer…
THE TIME ROGER EBERT PICKED A FIGHT WITH ME
Cannes Film Festival, Criticism, Film, Film Blog, Film Criticism, Film Festivals, French Cinema, Punk, Video Essay
Was Roger Ebert an asshole? Well, he certainly was to me. Cole Smithey.
JULIA
Twenty minutes shy of three hours, “Julia” is an art house train wreck of mammoth proportions. The irony is that…
PARIS 36
Just when you thought they didn’t make films like “Children of Paradise” anymore, “Paris 36” comes along to rejuvenate the…
THE 400 BLOWS — THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, French New Wave, Video Essay
Film-critic-turned-filmmaker François Truffaut’s debut film not only spurred on the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement of French cinema, but Truffaut…
THE WAGES OF FEAR — THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Agitprop, Black and White, Capsules Blog, Corporate Corruption, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Noir
Before making the classic shocker “Diobolique: (1955) Henri-Georges Clouzot constructed a brilliant politically-infused noir that brims with anti-corporate sentiment. Co-written…
THE RULES OF THE GAME — THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, French Cinema, Literary Adaptation, Women's Cinema
To the eyes of most modern filmgoers Jean Renoir’s masterpiece of French Cinema may seem like nothing more than a…
COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA
