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Louise Monot (Catherine) and Aurélien Wiik (Joffrey) in “All This I Will Give To You.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

“All This I Will Give To You” (“Tout cela je te le donnerai”) is a suspenseful, if somewhat soapy, mystery/drama set around a lavish French vineyard and estate. The French TV miniseries opens with a fatal car crash on a rural road. Switch to Paris, where successful novelist Manuel Ortega (David Kammenos) is struggling to finish his latest overdue novel. He’s soon awakened by gendarmes informing him that his husband of six years had a fatal accident in rural France. Manuel is baffled because his mate, Aymeric (Alexis Loret) was supposedly on a business trip to Brussels.

We soon learn that Aymeric is the son of a wealthy marquis who’d inherited the title and responsibility for running the family business and properties, of which Manuel knew nothing. We shortly understand why.

En garde, worldwide enemies of France, along with all freedom-loving people! Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath Aka super-agent Oss 117 is on the case! Actually, he’s on two cases as a pair of his deadliest missions is now available in a nifty ultra-cool double BluRay gift set. Yes, I know Santa “made the scene” over a week ago, but if you’re wondering what to do with your gift cards or return credits, well…

First, let’s crack open the dossier file on this operative. The character springs from a series of novels begun by writer Jean Bruce, beating Ian Fleming’s 007 by six years. Of course, the movie studios beckoned, and a movie franchise premiered in 1957 and concluded in 1970. Ah, but you can’t keep a good spy down. Five years before they teamed on the Oscar-winning The Artist, director/co-writer Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin re-imagined...

In the run up to MipTV, TF1 Group has acquired a trio of premium original French series, “I Killed My Husband,” “Marion” and “Elle’s Kitchen” for second-window rights from Paris-based TV sales banner Have A Good One (Hago).”

“I Killed My Husband,” which is produced by Henri Debeurme’s Next Episode with Hago, stars Erika Sainte (“Les Rivières Pourpres”) as a woman who’s been wrongly accused of murdering her husband. The series premiered on 13eme Rue in November and played at La Rochelle Fiction Festival.

“Marion,” which was co-produced by Mathieu Ageron at Nolita and Jacques Kluger at Darklight, is

based on the best-selling Edwige Marion novels written by Danielle Thiéry. The series follows Marion, the newly appointed divisional commissioner of the railway brigade at Gare du Nord who investigates the darkest criminal cases with her own style while raising her adopted daughter.

Set to premiere on 13eme...

Nine months after Chris Carter’s long-awaited return to TV, The After, was given a full series order, Amazon has done a complete 180. With shooting on the pilot completed well over a year ago, the online giant decided to not go ahead with the eight episodes it had previously committed to.

“We have decided to not move forward with The After,” said Amazon Studios vp Roy Price. “We would like to thank Chris Carter, the phenomenal cast, crew and producers for all their efforts.”

The news comes courtesy of Variety, who report that Carter’s show was heralded by many as his great comeback to television. His game-changing supernatural serial, The X-Files, dominated the television landscape for years with its conspiracy theories and government cover-ups. Taking a step back from that realm, but not sci-fi altogether, The After was primed to jump on a popular bandwagon, as it focused on...

Toward the end of March Amazon Studios gave Chris Carter's "The After" a series order, but we didn't know when it would debut or how many episodes it would have in its first season. Well, we still don't quite know the former, but we do have some info on the latter...

So far Amazon has slotted "The X-Files" creator's new project for eight episodes, but if Carter has his way, it'll run for at least 99. As he told reporters during Amazon's summer Television Critics Association press tour session, he based the mystery-focused "The After" on Dante's Inferno.

The Divine Comedy, which is comprised of Inferno plus Purgatorio and Paradiso, has 99 cantos in its story (along with an introduction). "I'm using that as my model," Carter revealed.

Other than "early 2015," Amazon hasn't announced the show's exact release date, but per THR, it's not following the "binge" model of all episodes hitting at once.

Amazon Studios confirmed on Monday (March 31) that it was renewing "Alpha House" for Season 2 and was picking up two dramas, two comedies and two kids' shows. No dates have been announced yet for airings of any of these series.

The pilots ordered to series are:

"The After" -- From Chris Carter ("The X-Files"), the show will follow eight strangers thrown together and needing to survive in a violent and mysterious world. Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jamie Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar and Louise Monot star."Bosch" -- Based on Michael Connelly's book series, "Bosch" is a drama about a relentless Lapd homicide detective. Titus Welliver, Annie Wersching and Jamie Hector star."Mozart in the Jungle" -- The half-hour comedic drama takes on sex, drugs and classical music. It stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Saffron Burrows, Lola Kirke, Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters and Peter Vack."Transparent...

This news came out about a week ago and somehow slipped under our radar, but today we're remedying that situation! Remember hearing about the new Chris Carter pilot, "The After," which Amazon posted for viewer feedback? Well, here's an update...

Per Variety, Amazon has given "The After" a series order along with "Bosch," a cop drama that follows Titus Welliver as he pursues the killer of a 13-year-old boy.

Having seen "The After," we can say that this is great news indeed! Finally we'll be able to find out what happens next! In case you haven't watched it yet, visit the Amazon Pilot Season Page.

No word on how many episodes there'll be or when these shows might debut, but we'll keep you posted.

"The After" Synopsis:

Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Starring Aldis Hodge,...

Amazon has been creating and debuting pilots for shows to run on their Instant Video site. Those pilots are shared with viewers and the viewers are meant to vote for the shows they like. Shows with the most positive feedback get put into series. Zombieland was their first attempt at sci-fi and it failed to make it to series. The votes are in for their second attempt, The After, and we have a winner!

We watched, loved, left feedback, and reviewed this great pilot from creator of the X-Files, Chris Carter, and Variety has now reported that it has been picked up for series. If you have, by chance, missed this pilot about several characters from all walks of life found bound together by apocalyptic circumstances and other mysterious happenings, then check the bottom of this post for the link to the video.

We’ll keep you posted on the...

Review Ron Hogan 4 Mar 2014 - 07:38

From The X-Files creator Chris Carter comes The After, one of Amazon's clutch of 2014 pilots...

This review contains spoilers.

For years, television networks have tried to recreate surprise hits by replicating the formula. For example, networks have been trying to find another Lost since Lost went off the air. Feel free to substitute Fringe in for Lost as necessary. However, one of the first shows I remember drawing that sort of attention was The X-Files. For awhile, everyone tried to have an X-Files clone, and no one was able to capture that properly, not even Carter himself.

Fortunately, The After doesn't seem like it's trying to capture the X-Files vibe so much as it's trying to be the show Under The Dome promised, yet failed to deliver. Normal people caught in an abnormal situation, just trying to survive while the world around them falls apart at the seams.

Check out new behind the scenes photos of Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, on set of Amazon Original pilot The After.

More on The After:

Written and directed by Emmy-nominee Chris Carter (The X-Files) executive produced by Marc Rosen of Georgeville Television and produced by Gabe Rotter, The After follows eight strangers who are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jamie Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar, and Louise Monot star in the pilot.

Watch the pilot now and help decide if the show should be made into a series.

Genre: Drama | Sci-Fi

Creators: Chris Carter

Network: Amazon Instant Video

Air Date/Time: February 6, 2014

Written by: Chris Carter

Directed by: Chris Carter

Synopsis:

From Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation.

I now fully consider Amazon Instant Video an official contender in the television market. Meaning, with this show, The After, they have a winner, and if you haven’t watched it already, you need to.

I had my standards sufficiently lowered after their first attempt to woo sci-fi lovers with their television version of Zombieland, which I didn’t hate. But if they make The After into a series, I can easily guarantee my full, committed and undying love.

After a nice, peaceful set up, this show had me on the edge of my seat and constantly surprised. The...

Girl on a Bicycle is like Micki + Maude minus the outrage, complexity, or crack timing. In that 1984 Blake Edwards farce, a frazzled Dudley Moore impregnates both his chilly wife and earthy mistress.

The Paris-set Bicycle's convoluted plot promises a similar degree of chaos, not least because of language barriers among the characters. Mopey Italian tour bus driver Paolo (Vincenzo Amato) proposes to pert, no-nonsense German flight attendant Greta (Nora Tschirner), then becomes smitten with Cécile (Louise Monot), a ravishing bicyclist and model who's raising two kids long-abandoned by their Australian baby daddy.

After Paolo accidentally runs Cécile over, he becomes her caretaker, pretends to be her children's estranged father, and empl...

Back in August we got the word that Amazon Studios was proceeding with a pilot for "The After" from "The X-Files" creator Chris Carter, and now it's ready for you to watch and vote on along with a few others.

Another Amazon pilot that might be of interest to Dread Central readers is "Bosch," and we have all the details on it and "The After" below.

To watch and cast your vote, visit the Amazon Pilot Season Page. Along with "The After" and "Bosch," there are three comedy pilots plus five potential kids' shows to check out.

"The After" Synopsis:

Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Starring Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jamie Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Sam Littlefield, Louise Monot, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar, Jason Lewis, Brynn Bowie, Madison Bowie, Giovanni Lopes, Fred Cross,...

Amazon has released online its second wave of pilots for potential new shows, once again bringing democracy to pilot season.

Feedback from viewers will help determine which shows will become full-fledged series. Viewers can watch them for free if they’re Amazon Prime members. Projects include X Files creator Chris Carter’s new show The After and a detective drama based on Michael Connelly’s popular Harry Bosch novels. Below are the official descriptions of the adult-targeted shows from Amazon. For more thoughts on this subject, see our previous post on whether regular TV networks should follow Amazon’s lead...

Ahead of its bow in select theaters on Valentine's Day 2014, Indiewire is pleased to exclusively premiere the trailer for the romantic comedy "Girl on a Bicycle," the new film written and directed by "The Notebook" screenwriter Jeremy Leven. The film follows Paolo, an Italian bus driver living in Paris who is about to propose to his girlfriend when he comes across and becomes immediately infatuated with a mysterious girl on a bicycle. The comedy stars Italian actor Vincenzo Amato and features German actress Nora Tschirner and French actress Louise Monot, with British actor Paddy Considine rounding out the impressive international cast. Watch the trailer below:...

Amazon has picked up a second drama pilot to go along with "X-Files" creator Chris Carter's show "The After."

The new pickup is "Bosch," based on best-selling author Michael Connelly's character Harry Bosch. Titus Welliver ("The Good Wife," "Lost") will play the title character, a world-weary Lapd detective; Annie Wersching ("24"), Jamie Hector ("The Wire") and Amy Price-Francis ("The Chicago Code") also star.

Connelly will co-write the pilot with Eric Overmyer ("Treme," "Homicide").

Amazon has also released a few more details about Carter's pilot "The After," which it ordered a couple months ago. It's about "eight strangers who are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation" (previous descriptions have just called it a "post-apocalyptic drama").

Those eight people will be played by Sharon Lawrence ("NYPD Blue," "Drop Dead Diva"), Jamie Kennedy ("Oh Sit"), Aldis Hodge ("Leverage"), Arielle Kebbel...

Amazon has greenlit its first two drama pilots: “The After” from “X Files” creator Chris Carter and “Bosch,” based on the bestselling Michael Connelly character. Written and directed by Carter, “The After” follows eight strangers thrown together by mysterious forces who must help each other survive. It stars Sharon Lawrence, Jamie Kennedy, Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar and Louise Monot. It is executive-produced by Marc Rosen of Georgeville Television and produced by Gabe Rotter. Also read: Amazon Orders Pilots From Jason Schwartzman, Jeremy Garelick, Jill Soloway “I’m very superstitious about talking about what I’m working.

Amazon Studios announced today it has given the green light for the production of its first two hour-long drama pilots: Bosch, based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling Harry Bosch book series and written by Emmy-nominated Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly, and The After, written and directed by Emmy-nominee Chris Carter (The X-Files).

“We are very excited to be working with creators like Michael Connelly and Chris Carter, both epic storytellers in their own right,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “For the first time we are bringing Amazon customers hour-long programming and we can’t wait to hear what they think of these new stories.”

More on each drama pilot:

Bosch

Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling Harry Bosch series and written by Eric Overmyer and Michael Connelly, Bosch follows a relentless Lapd homicide detective as he pursues the killer of a 13-year-old boy while standing...

In 1993 “The X-Files” creator Chris Carter helped establish two little known actors, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and twenty years later he may do it again by casting French actress Louise Monot and Sam Littlefield in his new pilot “The After,” per Deadline. They join TV veterans Aldis Hodge, Adrian Pasdar, Jamie Kennedy, Sharon [...]

The post TV: Louise Monot and Sam Littlefield Join “The After” from Creator Chris Carter appeared first on Up and Comers.

Exclusive: Breaking Bad alum Christopher Cousins has joined sophomore NBC drama Revolution as a recurring. The actor, repped by Sdb Talent and manager Lisa Disante-Frank, will play high-ranking Patriot Victor Doyle, who’s on a collision course with Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito). French actress Louise Monot and Sam Littlefield have been added to Chris Carter’s Amazon drama pilot The After. Produced by Georgeville TV, it takes place at the moment of apocalypse. In her first Us TV role, Monot, repped by Olivia Bell Management in London, Artmedia in Paris and Radius Entertainment in La, will play Gigi, a woman caught up in the midst of the action. Her feature credits include Michel Hazanavicius’ Oss 117: Lost in Rio, Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies and German pic Girl On A Bicycle. Littlefield, repped by Bold and attorney Chad Christopher, will play the mysterious Dark Shadow.

Chicago – The landmark ensemble film “The Big Chill” (1983) featured seven former college friends reuniting for the funeral of one of their own. The French film “Little White Lies” takes that concept a step further, as friends go on a yearly retreat without one of their own, because he is in the hospital. Francois Cluzet, Marion Cotillard and Jean Dujardin co-star.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Cotillard (“The Dark Knight Rises”) and Dujardin (“The Artist”) have broken through to American audiences recently, so this 2010 film is ripe for a stateside release. Set at a seaside resort, the ensemble interact, argue, get drunk, make love and wonder where all the relationships are going in this absorbing and revealingly cultural view on French friendship. Real emotions go much deeper here, and honest reactions seem more prevalent with this group of “Big Chillers.” It’s not fair to compare the two films nearly 30 years after the first BC,...

Lionsgate have sent us this new poster for their new movie, Little White Lies. If you missed it, Jamie put up the trailer for the movie last week here. Little White lies is directed by Guillaume Canet and stars Marion Cotillard, François Cluzet, Benoit Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Laurent Lafitte, Jean Dujardin, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot, Anne Marivin, Louise Monot, Joel Dupuch and Hocine Merabet.

Synopsis: From the prolific César winning director who gave us Tell No One this intimate study of friendship and humanity brings together a truly exceptional ensemble cast; including the Academy and BAFTA award winning actress Marion Coutillard; and the César ‘Best Actor’ award winner François Cluzet. Walking the fine line between laughter and tears Canet directs some of France’s most skillful performers to deliver startlingly intimate performances. As we learn of each character’s flaws we also understand the bond between the friends, and recognise ourselves in them.

Comedy is of course the most difficult of genres to sell internationally. Something that Germans find uproariously funny leaves English speakers stony-faced – and vice-versa. Yet Oscar-winning German producers Max Wiedemann and Quirin Berg are currently shooting Girl On a Bicycle, their first venture into English language production, starring Vincenzo Amato (Did You Hear About the Morgans?), Nora Tschirner, Louise Monot, and Paddy Considine. The director is Don Juan De Marco's Jeremy Leven, writer of The Notebook and The Legend of Bagger Vance. “We always had it in mind to produce English-language movies. Our aim is to produce one English-language film every year or every 2 years and at least one feature for the German market a year,” co-founder Wiedemann tells me. This strategy follows the pair's worldwide success with their first movie The Lives of Others, which won the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2007. It was directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck...

Chicago – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: DVD, we have 10 DVDs up for grabs to “Oss 117: Lost in Rio” as well as 3 DVDs to South Korean thriller “Seven Days” with Yunjin Kim of ABC’s “Lost”!

“Oss 117: Lost in Rio” stars Jean Dujardin, Louise Monot, Rüdiger Vogler, Alex Lutz, Reem Kherici, Pierre Bellemare and Ken Samuels. “Seven Days” stars Yunjin Kim, Mi-suk Kim, Hie-sun Park, Myeong-su Choi, Hang-Seon Jang, Dong-hwan Jeong and Kwang-rok Oh.

To win your free DVD courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphics below.

The movie poster for “Oss 117: Lost in Rio” with Jean Dujardin and Louise Monot.

Image credit: Music Box Films

The movie poster for “Seven Days” with Yunjin Kim...

Chicago – Like most people who were lucky enough to see it, I thoroughly enjoyed the clever comedy “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.” With a spectacular lead performance by Jean Dujardin, the film was a clever riff on spy movies that played not unlike a French Austin Powers but with the added twist that the title character was actually one pulled directly from ’60s spy movies. Imagine if James Bond went away for four decades and was rebooted as a satire of his sexist, racist, and generally stupid persona.

DVD Rating: 2.0/5.0

“Cairo, Nest of Spies” is a clever, witty romp with a great lead performance, beautiful locations, and a swinging rhythm, but sequelitis is apparently not purely an American phenomenon as the follow-up, “Oss 117: Lost in Rio,” hitting DVD tomorrow, August 31st, 2010 isn’t nearly as effective. Not unlike “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” the second Oss...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Red Riding Trilogy" (2010)

Directed by Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, and Anand Tucker

Released by IFC Films

Jarrold ("Brideshead Revisited"), Marsh ("Man on Wire") and Tucker ("Shopgirl") take on the epic true crime story of the Yorkshire Ripper, the serial killer that haunted England throughout the '70s and '80s in this three-part series of films: Jarrold's "1974," which stars future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield as a journalist investigating the crime, Marsh's "1980," which follows Paddy Considine's veteran cop who suspects corruption within his own department, and Tucker's "1983," which tracks David Morrissey's detective as he makes the connection between a current kidnapping and those of years ago. (Aaron Hillis' interview with James Marsh is here.)

"Beatdown" (2010)

Directed by Mike Gunther

Released by Lionsgate

Don't you hate it when your brother's murdered, leaving you to make up his debt to a local gangster by...

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Chicago – It’s no mystery why the appeal of spy satires transcend the boundaries of time and culture. Clueless detectives with a bloated sense of self-importance are great comic punching bags. Everyone loves seeing a doofus get his head slammed in a door, whether that doofus be Inspector Clouseau or Lt. Frank Drebin or countless other law officers who could easily blend in with the Keystone Kops.

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, the French spy better known as Oss 117, was created by author Jean Bruce as a straightforward hero. The character was featured in several ’60s thrillers that were meant to be serious competitors with the James Bond franchise. But in 2006, director Michel Hazanavicius decided to do for the outdated character what Austin Powers did for Bond. His picture, “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” was a gloriously nutty delight, with a smashing lead performance by Jean Dujardin, who...

Yes, we're excited to see "Iron Man 2," "Inception" and God help us, "Predators." But what we're really looking forward to spending a few hours in the company of an undertaking Bill Murray ("Get Low"), an Italian-speaking Tilda Swinton ("I Am Love") and a toga-wearing Rachel Weisz ("Agora") in the comfort of air-conditioned theater over the next three months. (Either that or we'll be enjoying them from the comfort of home online, on demand or on DVD.)

There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...

Director: Michel Hazanavicius Writers: Jean Bruce (character), Jean-François Halin (screenplay) Producers: Eric Altmeyer, Nicholas Altmeyer Cinematographer: Guillaume Schiffman Starring: Jean Dujardin, Louise Monot, Rüdiger Vogler Studio: Mandarin Films The spy who loved himself Buffoonish French super-spy Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath (Jean Dujardin), aka agent 117, once again charms the ladies while foiling nefarious villains in Oss 117: Lost in Rio, a stale follow-up to 2006’s Cairo, Nest of Spies. An Austin Powers-style spoof carried out with reasonable attention to aesthetic period detail (grainy cinematography, mod outfits, copious split screen effects), Michel Hazanavicius’ comedy charts 117’s efforts in swinging 1967...

As Euro-thrillers are concerned, Canet did a formidable job with Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One). Reuniting with Cluzet and Cotillard, I'm looking forward in seeing how the actor continues to flex his muscles as a director, but this time working in matters of the heart with this dramedy. - #98. Les Petits Mouchoirs Director/Writer: Guillaume Canet Producers: Productions du Trésor's Alain Attal (Ne le dis à personne)Distributor: Rights Available. The Gist: Every year a group of friends spend the month of August together at one of their holiday homes on the Cap Ferret. But this year, one member of the group is in a coma and as they pack their bags, the atmosphere is already tense, and the good spirits of the first few days give way to less exalted feelings when they each express their innermost doubts. Cast: François Cluzet,...

From a wry documentary exploring anti-Semitism (Defamation, 2009), The Evening Class shifts to a stylish feature that wickedly flaunts Jewish stereotypes. Oss 117: Lost in Rio saw its Bay Area premiere on Halloween night as part of the San Francisco Film Society's 2009 French Cinema Now (Fcn) series, where--in turn--Robert Avila wrote up such a clever synopsis that I won't even try to compete: "Temperatures and laughs are up, tops are down and cultural sensitivity is at an all-time low in this send-up of super-spy Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, aka Oss 117, the foreigner-fighting, Cold War hero of the popular de Gaulle-era novels by Jean Bruce. The bastard child of James Bond and Inspector Clouzot (played with mesmerizing scenery-chewing élan by French superstar Jean Dujardin) fumbles merrily through a meticulously realized Brazilian wonderland in hot pursuit of a Nazi blackmailer, and in collaboration with a rather-hot-herself Mossad agent (Louise Monot). To...

Paris -- The 35th Deauville American Film Festival will kick off with a romantic romp through the ages when New Line's "The Time Traveler's Wife" opens the festival on September 4th, organizers said Tuesday.

The 10-day ode to Us cinema has added several films to its previously announced lineup, including Competition titles Jonas Pate's "Shrink" starring Kevin Spacey and Miguel Arteta's "Youth in Revolt" with Michael Cera, Justin Long and Ray Liotta.

Josh Goldin's Matthew Broderick-starrer "Wonderful World" will premiere in the territory out of competition alongside Richard Linklater's "Me and Orson Welles," Paola Mendoza and Gloria La Morte's "Entre Nos" and Us summer blockbuster Neill Blomkamp's "District 9."

Documentaries "Facing Ali," "Outrage" and "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" will all premiere in the "Uncle Sam's Docs" sidebar.

Andy Garcia, who will be in town for an homage to his acting career, will give a masterclass on Saturday,...

• Guillaume Canet can count on the return of François Cluzet, the participation of an Oscar winning actress in Marion Cotillard, and Benoît Magimel for his third feature in the director's chair. Canet will follow up Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne) with with Les Petits Mouchoirs (“The Little Handkerchiefs”). Cineuropa reports that Valérie Bonneton, Gilles Lellouche, Anne Marivin, Louise Monot, Laurent Lafite, Pascale Arbillot and Jean Dujardin (Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) round out the cast. Production will last three months in Gironde, Cap Ferret and Paris. Written by the Canet, Les Petits Mouchoirs centres on a group of friends who holiday together every summer at Cap Ferret (South West portion of France). The good spirits of the first few days give way to less exalted feelings when they each express their innermost doubts. Productions du Trésor's Alain Attal (who also produced Ne le dis à personne) produces.

...

Serving up another cocktail of cheeseball pickup lines, hammy play-acting and self-ridiculing Frenchiness, “Oss 117: Lost in Rio” is a satisfying sequel to 2006’s cultish sendup hit. Stuck in a time-warped Brazil that resembles a yellowing ’60s postcard, Jean Dujardin pulls off a charming, Peter Sellers-esque performance as he bumbles his way through retro cloak-and-dagger intrigue, displaying his character’s uncanny ability to insult anyone — and, especially in this episode, women and Jews — who’s not 100% Gallic, male and a diehard Charles de Gaulle fanatic. Local B.O. should echo the previous film’s 2.2 million admissions, with guaranteed homevid viewings.

Like “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” the pic is a full-blown parody of a series of widely popular postwar novels and films featuring secret agent Oss 117 Similar to James Bond but 200 times cornier, Oss was the quintessential fictional hero of de Gaulle’s decade-long reign, defending his patrie against its greatest threat: foreigners.

Hollywood Film Festival

Scandinavian filmmakers are known for making somber, heavy opuses drenched in angst and metaphysical meditations, like the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. But the truth is there has always been another strain of Scandinavian films, whimsical comedies like Kitchen Stories and the Oscar-nominated Elling, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Petter Naess.

Naess' new film Gone With the Woman is in much the same sly comic mode. It has enough appealing touches to score on the festival circuit, though it's a little too mild and precious to capture any significant audience in American theaters. The film is Norway's official submission for this year's foreign-language Oscar.

Woman begins with a gob of narration by the sad-sack hero (Trond Fausa Aurvag) describing the strange onset of his romance with Marianne Marian Saastad Ottesen), who moves in with him despite his indifference. After a series of misadventures, the hero (who is never named) announces, "I decided to fall head over heels in love with her. I would start in the morning."

The course of true love never did run smooth, and after the hero meets an enticing new flame during a whirlwind trip to Paris, and after Marianne takes up with a lover of her own, matters finally wind their tortuous way to the right romantic conclusion.

The story progresses in fits and starts, too often propelled by verbose narration. But Woman benefits from an appealing cast. Aurvag has an off-center charm; he makes us feel for the character's befuddlement. Ottesen is alternately endearing and maddening, and Louise Monot is lovely as the hero's Parisian amour. Peter Stormare provides some of the best moments as the hero's no-nonsense swimming buddy and confidant; the swimming pool and sauna scenes are among the movie's brightest comic interludes.

Naess has unmistakable visual talent, and there are striking images, alternately ironic and idyllic, throughout the movie. There's even a deft bit of animation marking one of the key transitional sequences. Technical credits are strong, and the use of music is inventive. But the whimsy, which might appeal to lovers of films like the cloying Amelie, does get a bit thick. Despite its likable cast and inventive visuals, the film desperately needs a few bold laughs in addition to its mild chuckles.

GONE WITH THE WOMAN

Monster Film

SF Norge, Guttorm Pettersom and Norsk Filmstudio

Credits:

Director: Petter Naess

Screenwriters: Johan Bogaeus, Petter Naess

Based on the novel by: Erlend Lee

Producer: Olav Oen

Director of photography: Marius Johansen Hansen

Art director: Bettina Schroeteler

Music: Aslak Hartberg

Costume designer: Karen Fabritius Gram

Editor: Inge-Lise Langfeldt

Cast:

Hero: Trond Fausa Aurvag

Marianne: Marian Saastad Ottesen

Glenn: Peter Stormare

Mirlinda: Louise Monot

Lollik: Trude Bjercke Strom

Tor: Henrik Mestad

Nidar-Bergene: Anna Gutto

Oberst: Sten Ljunggren

Running time -- 92 minutes

No MPAA rating...