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France’s heroic leader Charles de Gaulle might have lent his name to airports and famed metropolitan intersections as one of the previous century’s most pivotal political figures. But save for a TV film here and a documentary there, he surprisingly has never been granted a major biopic of his own before. In that regard, writer-director Gabriel Le Bomin’s epically scaled, mainstream wartime drama “De Gaulle” feels sorely overdue, which makes it all the more frustrating that it’s saddle with a lackluster script unworthy of its larger-than-life subject and cookie-cutter visual aesthetics.

Then again, perhaps no cinematic endeavor could really do justice to the significant legacy of de Gaulle, a leader who shepherded Free France Forces against the Nazi Germany as an army officer, helped rebuild democracy in his nation in the mid ’40s as the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic and served...

"If history makes men, some men make history." Samuel Goldwyn Films has released an official US trailer for the French biopic drama De Gaulle, about the legendary French politician Charles de Gaulle. The film takes place during World War II, just as France is dealing with the Nazi army invading their country. It already opened in France last year, and is finally arriving in the US this fall. Set in France, June 1940. The de Gaulle couple is confronted with the military and political collapse of France... Charles de Gaulle joins London while Yvonne, his wife, finds herself with her three children on the road of the exodus. Starring Lambert Wilson as Charles de Gaulle, with a cast including Isabelle Carré as his wife Yvonne, plus Olivier Gourmet, Catherine Mouchet, Pierre Hancisse, Sophie Quinton, Gilles Cohen, Laurent Stocker, Philippe Laudenbach, and Tim Hudson as Churchill. This French biopic seems as campy...

by Tim Brayton

Last week, we took a look at Loving Vincent, a stunningly gorgeous animated feature taking its aesthetic cues from traditional fine arts; and this week, we're doing the same thing. Though the style in the French The Girl Without Hands is quite a long way from the rich oil portraits of Loving Vincent. Now, the inspiration is (or anyway, appears to be) Chinese ink wash painting, the art of sketching out characters and settings in a few swift, bold brush strokes with strongly-colored ink. The results deserve the same praise: this is, visually, one of the most distinctive, special, and unusual piece of cinema released this year.

This time around, the film has a narrative that can stand up to its style. The Girl Without Hands is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the Grimm fairy tale, about a young woman (voiced by Anaïs Demoustier) whose miller father...

Alain Resnais' deceptively conventional drama is really about interpersonal dynamics: lives lived in the here and now are really anchored in events and concerns from the past, that bleed into the present. Delphine Seyrig's antique dealer invites an old beau to visit, but instead of clarity and direction finds just more personal confusion. Muriel, ou Le temps d'un retour Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 824 1963 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Kérien, Nita Klein, Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée, Claude Sainval, Laurence Badie, Jean Champion Cinematography Sacha Vierny Production Design Jacques Saulnier Film Editor Claudine Merlin, Kenout Peltier, Eric Pluet Original Music Paul Colline Written by Jean Cayrol Produced by Anatole Dauman Directed by Alain Resnais

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Back in film school we'd make pronouncements like, why do all movies have to have such structured plots, with organized conflicts and resolutions?...

Rank the week of July 5th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Hobo With A Shotgun

(DVD and Blu-Ray | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #3839

Times Ranked: 1526

Win Percentage: 47%

Top-20 Rankings: 7

Directed By: Jason Eisener

Starring: Rutger Hauer • Gregory Smith • Molly Dunsworth • Brian Downey • Nick Bateman

Genres: Action • Adventure • Crime • Crime Thriller • Thriller

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Wake Wood

(DVD and Blu-Ray | Nr | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #15374

Times Ranked: 35

Win Percentage: 32%

Top-20 Rankings: 0

Directed By: David Keating

Starring: Eva Birthistle • Ella Connolly • Amelia Crowley • Aidan Gillen • Timothy Spall

Genres: Drama • Horror

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13 Assassins

(DVD and Blu-Ray | Nr | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #2732

Times Ranked: 1084

Win Percentage: 59%

Top-20 Rankings: 8

Directed By: Takashi Miike

Starring: Koji Yakusho • Takayuki Yamada • Yusuke Iseya • Gorô Inagaki • Masachika Ichimura

Genres: Action • Ensemble Film • Period Film • Samurai Film

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Bloodrayne: The Third Reich

(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #17903

Times Ranked: 30

Win Percentage: 42%

Top-...

Director: Xavier Beauvois Writers: Xavier Beauvois and Etienne Comar Cinematographer: Caroline Champetier Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach Studio/Runtime: Sony Pictures Classics/120 min. Movies adapting real-life stories for the big screen always have a tough choice in how accurately they depict events. Hollywood usually chooses to heighten things and, although we accept that they’re only inspired by reality and not recreations, it’s also possible to stray too far in the realm of realistic depictions. That’s the case with Of Gods and Men, which depicts what happened to a Trappist monastery in Algeria during 1996, events...

Of this weekend's new entries, the one I want to see most is French Oscar entry Of Gods and Men, which earned raves around the world but was unaccountably shut out by the foreign language committee. Update: It also won the Cesar award for Best Film. We round up the weekend's reviews and trailers below. Drive Angry 3D, Summit Entertainment Director: Patrick Lussier; Stars: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard 50% on Metacritic, 57% on RottenTomatoes. Hall Pass, New Line Cinema Directors: Farrelly Brothersl Stars: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate 48% on Metacritic, 29% on RottenTomatoes. Of Gods and Men (France), Sony Pictures Classics (pictured) Director: Xavier Beauvois; Stars: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Oliver Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach 85% on Metacritic, 88% on RottenTomatoes. Heartbeats ...

Reviewed by Aaron Hillis

(from the 2010 Festival de Cannes, screening In Competition)

Directed/Written by: Xavier Beauvois

Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Philippe Laudenbach, Jean-Marie Frin and Olivier Rabourdin

“Dying for my faith shouldn’t keep me up nights,” says a Cistercian monk to his rational leader Christian (Lambert Wilson), just two of the eight robed Frenchmen whose monastery sits high in the North African mountains, circa the late 1990s. Loosely based on the Tibhirine tragedy, in which a brotherhood of monks in Algeria were kidnapped and slaughtered by Islamic fundamentalists in opposition of the government, the latest from France’s Xavier Beauvois (“Le Petit Lieutenant”) attempts to put audiences in the sandals of those impoverished martyrs during their final weeks.

It might sound callous to condemn such a story of piety, but that’s exactly the problem: “Of Gods and Men” is overly pious and not much else, offering...

Reviewed by Aaron Hillis

(from the 2010 Festival de Cannes, screening In Competition)

Directed/Written by: Xavier Beauvois

Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Philippe Laudenbach, Jean-Marie Frin and Olivier Rabourdin

“Dying for my faith shouldn’t keep me up nights,” says a Cistercian monk to his rational leader Christian (Lambert Wilson), just two of the eight robed Frenchmen whose monastery sits high in the North African mountains, circa the late 1990s. Loosely based on the Tibhirine tragedy, in which a brotherhood of monks in Algeria were kidnapped and slaughtered by Islamic fundamentalists in opposition of the government, the latest from France’s Xavier Beauvois (“Le Petit Lieutenant”) attempts to put audiences in the sandals of those impoverished martyrs during their final weeks.

It might sound callous to condemn such a story of piety, but that’s exactly the problem: “Of Gods and Men” is overly pious and not much else, offering...

A new trailer for Cannes Festival’s winner Of Gods and Men has been debuted via Apple.

The excluding of a beloved French film in the Best Foreign Language Film category of Oscar nominees – and the inclusion of a skeptically regarded Algerian one – has raised a few eyebrows and damaged some egos in France. Opening in NY and La on February 25th, director Xavier Beauvois has assembled an excellent cast for this “quietly powerful” film including, Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, and Jacques Herlin.

Of Gods and Men Movie Photos

Having been commercial success in its domestic market, the drama will hit limited U.S. theaters. However, in the grand scheme of French-American relations, it’s a small bump in the road.

Just a quck reminder:

The film with a screenplay written by Etienne Comar, centers its story on the monastery of Tibhirine, where Trappist monks lived...

My Idiot Brother

Opens: 2011

Cast: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Steve Coogan

Director: Jesse Peretz

Summary: Ned is a well-meaning idealist just released from prison for dealing cannabis. In succession, he disrupts the lives and homes of his three sisters: a career-driven journalist about to get her big break; a bisexual hipster whose lies are disrupting her relationship; and a married mother who hasn't noticed that her marriage is falling apart.

Analysis: Scoring a good response over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, this broad light comedy with a sweet heart charmed the pants off The Weinstein Company to the tune of around $6 million for distribution rights. That covers most of its sub-$10 million budget, a number that it could potentially outgross by several factors if the good-natured tone hinted at in the reviews were correct. If anything, the few negatives tended to be because this...

One of the things about working at a film festival is that you don’t always have the opportunity to watch the films at the festival. That was the case when I worked at the NY Film Festival back in September and why I wasn’t able to see the well received film, Of Gods and Men.

Opening in NY and La on February 25th, director Xavier Beauvois has assembled an excellent cast for this “quietly powerful” film…or so I hear. The film stars Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, and Jacques Herlin. I suggest you check out the trailer below because it is quite good for a drama of this caliber. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers in a monastery perched in the mountains of North Africa in the 1990s.

One of the surprise omissions from the Academy's Foreign Language shortlist this year was the absence of Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux), a film I saw on my final day at the Cannes Film Festival as it was one of the films I'd missed and many were talking about as a possible contender for the Palm d'Or. It didn't end up winning as it lost to fellow shortlist exclusion Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

I never did get around to reviewing it, but I will get a second shot come February 25, the day Sony PIctures Classics will release the film in New York and Los Angeles prior to what I imagine will be a slow roll out to the major cities around the country shortly thereafter.

The film is quite good as it tells the story of eight French Christian...

Cannes Film Festival winner Xavier Beauvois Incendies gets new videos. Clips are up from Of Gods and Men, Sony Pictures Classics, starring Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, Jacques Herlin, Loïc Pichon and Xavier Maly. The film is helmed by Xavier Beauvois who wrote alongside Etienne Comar and is a multiple award winner and nominee in numerous film festivals. The historical drama was selected as a winner of the Best Foreign Language Film by the National Board of Review. Pic opens on February 25th, exclusive to New York and Los Angeles...

Cannes Film Festival winner Xavier Beauvois Incendies gets new videos. Clips are up from Of Gods and Men, Sony Pictures Classics, starring Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, Jacques Herlin, Loïc Pichon and Xavier Maly. The film is helmed by Xavier Beauvois who wrote alongside Etienne Comar and is a multiple award winner and nominee in numerous film festivals. The historical drama was selected as a winner of the Best Foreign Language Film by the National Board of Review. Pic opens on February 25th, exclusive to New York and Los Angeles...

Artificial Eye have released the UK trailer and poster for Of Gods and Men.

Directed by Of Xavier Beauvois, Of Gods and Men won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and opens in the UK on December 3.

The film stars Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Philippe Laudenbach, Jacques Herli and Loïc Pichon.

Of Gods and Men centers around the monastery of Tibhirine, where Trappist monks lived in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria, until seven of them were beheaded in a still unclear incident in 1996.

Check out the trailer and poster below:

You can read our review of the film here.

As we promised, we’re here to continue our little chat about Cannes Film Festival 2010, so, another title shceduled to compete for the Palme d’Or this year is Of Gods and Men (or, if you prefer Des hommes et des dieux), an upcoming French drama movie, directed by Xavier Beauvois.

So, if you’re interested in some drama about a brotherhood of Cistercian monks who stand up for their beliefs when confronted by fundamentalists, than you should definitely pay attention on this one…

But, there’s much more about this story, so here is full synopsis: “A monastery high in the mountains of the Maghreb, some time in the 90s…Eight French Cistercian monks live in harmony with the Muslim population. Close to the villagers, they share in their labors and festivities, and take care of their daily medical needs. When a group of foreign workers are massacred, panic seizes the region.