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Peter Frampton’s road to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a long one. The former Humble Pie guitarist has been eligible as a solo artist since 1997, but he wasn’t even nominated until this year. “It’s something I never expected,” he told Rolling Stone shortly after getting the good news earlier this year. “It’s because I keep working. I’ve never given up. I’ve kept coming back and doing more stuff, and I’ve kept touring. I’ve re-built a following that is now enormous.

Alain Delon influenced Asian actors and directors, including Hong Kong directors John Woo (The Killer) and Johnnie To. These filmmakers admired Alain Delon when he played gangsters in Melville’s films.

Johnnie To wanted to work with Alain Delon. He offered him the lead role of Vengeance, that of Francis Costello in 1967, as an allusion to Jeff Costello in Le Samouraï, which was played by Alain Delon. After Alain Delon refused, Johnny Hallyday was chosen by Johnnie To. Vengeance made its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2009. It is screened at the Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie in Vesoul as part of a retrospective devoted to Asian films.

In the comedy You Shoot, I Shoot by Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung, actor Eric Kot plays a hired gun who identified himself as Jef Costello. He dresses like him and talks to him through a poster of...

The skies over a soaked Paris remained overcast for Friday’s 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony as the promised trés unique spectacle on the River Seine proved rudderless despite some superstars, a historical mixtape, and a grande balançoire or two.

Despite the theatre on the grandest scale with landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral and the Louvre as the backdrop, the opening ceremony simply wasn’t great TV.

Even with the rain pouring down, things definitely improved once darkness fell over City of Lights more than two hours into NBC’s live coverage. Night unveiled more of the drama of Paris itself, the river, and the performers who came alive as the barge-propelled parade of nation and their 205 delegations came to an end.

In the end as Celine Dion made her much-hyped and pitch-perfect appearance under the Olympic rings on the sparkling Eiffel Tower and past Gold medalist...

Rising French actor Raphael Quenard has signed to star as legendary French rock star Johnny Hallyday in a buzzy, as-yet-untitled biopic from Hugo Selignac’s Mediawan-owned Chi-Fou-Mi Productions.

November and The Stronghold filmmaker Cedric Jimenez will direct the feature that is set to start shooting in 2026 for a planned release on December 8, 2027 to coincide with what will be the 10 year anniversary of the singer and actor’s death in 2017.

Jimenez is penning the script with his November co-writer Olivier Demangel. The project is being billed as the “official” Hallyday biopic by the rocker’s widow Laetitia Hallyday who has previously...

Netflix has closed a deal with Spanish singer-songwriter Julio Iglesias to bring his life to the screen in series form. “For the first time, this music living legend will participate in the creative process of a project in which he will share everything about his life and his incredible musical trajectory,” the streamer said on Thursday.

The project, currently in development, will “tell the story of how Iglesias became the first non-English artist to enter the American and Asian markets and turned into a universal star who is among the five biggest record sellers in history,” Netflix said. “Throughout his more than 55 years of artistic career, Julio Iglesias has recorded and sung in 12 languages and has connected fans from all over the world, becoming the first Spanish artist with universal reach to have his songs sung all over the planet.”

Financial details weren’t disclosed.

“After that many speculations, books,...

Alain Attal and Hugo Selignac have formed a producing duo known for delivering original, starry French films that probe uneasy subjects that earn B.O. gold and critical laurels. Attal is in Cannes with Un Certain Regard title “Rosalie,” while Selignac has “Omar à la Fraise” in Critics’ Week.

The pair is now about to hit a new milestone in 2024, starting with Gilles Lellouche’s epic romance drama “L’Amour Ouf,” which boasts a budget of €32 million ($34 million) and marks Studiocanal’s biggest investment in a French-language film to date. They also have “And Their Children After Them,” an adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu’s Goncourt Prize-winning novel to be directed by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (“Teddy”), which has been boarded by Warner Bros. France and HBO Max and France Televisions, the first French movie to bring together these three partners.

“L’Amour Ouf” also marks the first film co-acquired by Canal Plus,...

A flamboyant man who was once a sales clerk, singer, actor, sports impresario, business mogul and government minister, Bernard Tapie led a rollercoaster life wilder than most fictional characters depicted in pop culture, even those created by Martin Scorsese.

No wonder that it took a decade for Tristan Seguela (“A Good Doctor”) and Olivier Demangel (“November”) to create and pen “Tapie,” a Netflix original series charting the swaggering man’s epic rise, from his blue-collar origins to his glorious days as a wealthy businessman and president of one of France’s biggest soccer clubs, Olympique de Marseille. The limited series tells intimate parts of his life, including his relationship with loved ones and business partners, as well as some of his setbacks and legal problems. Tapie died in 2021.

The first two episodes of “Tapie” world premiered at Canneseries TV festival and were warmly received with a standing ovation. Based on...

This story is part of The Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Sustainability Issue (click here to read more).

Going green in the film industry has gone from a vague ambition to an absolute necessity as the extent of Hollywood’s carbon footprint becomes impossible to ignore and as governments in Europe begin to make sustainability a factor in determining what projects get funding.

The CO₂ impact of moviemaking is underreported, but the business is notoriously resource-hungry. The most recent study of the industry’s carbon footprint, put out by the Sustainable Production Alliance — a consortium of film, TV and streaming companies including all the major studios, as well as Amazon and Netflix — showed that tentpole productions, budgeted at more than $70 million, had an average carbon footprint of 3,370 metric tons, or about 33 metric tons per shooting day. Large films (between $40 million and $70 million) had a carbon footprint of 1,081 metric tons; medium films ($20 million...

Throughout his career, the works of Johnnie To have always had a distinct European touch, especially those regarding gangsters, killers and heists, a blend of Eastern and Western influences you might say. Unsurprisingly, To himself had been toying with the idea to emphasize the connections in a future project, until he finally got the chance to do so from French producers Michèle and Laurent Pétin, who had been planning to collaborate with the filmmaker for quite some time. “Vengeance”, as their project was called, combines To’s sense of style, location and timing, especially regarding action scenes, but also tells a very interesting story about the overall point of revenge, and how it forever leaves a mark on people. The film would premier at Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and would go on to receive many favorable reviews, praising the performances and the direction, with some even calling it a masterpiece.

This 1997 policier, directed by Jan Kounen, pulses with violent energy, although its pop-video aesthetic looks dated

Very over the top, extremely brutal and as French as a Johnny Hallyday calendar – here’s a rerelease for the gonzo crime thriller from 1997, directed by Jan Kounen and adapted from the pulp policier series by Joël Houssin. The hyperactive pop video aesthetic has dated a bit, and the crash zooms and the extreme close-ups are tiring, but there’s no doubting the ultraviolent, ultratasteless energy of it all: the movie gives the finger to all those arthouse wimps who might be thinking about wrinkling their noses and objecting to this film.

Romain Duris plays a gangster who takes a shit in the street and actually wipes his arse with a page from the esteemed film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma A lithe young Vincent Cassel plays Dobermann, a fearless bank robber who takes down...

When thinking of the best French movies of the 21st century, there are some titles that leap to mind immediately, even if the past 22 years haven’t appeared to be as creatively fecund as the heady heights of the New Wave period. Celine Sciamma, Francois Ozon, Bruno Dumont, and Julia Ducournau have all produced stunning, instantly canonical works. But what’s interesting is to consider how expansive the idea of “Frenchness” in cinema has been this century: on the list below, Austrian Michael Haneke, Iranian Abbas Kiarostami, and American Julian Schnabel appear, with the main criterion for inclusion being simply the use of the French language.

Their inclusion does call into question a bit the idea of national cinemas. And yet, even in this highly interconnected, global 21st century, France singularly remains one of the medium’s most essential guiding lights. From the pioneer era of the Lumiere brothers, to...

Despite being the world capital of the film and TV industry, Los Angeles has never been a particularly hospitable place to stage a film festival. Which makes it all the more surprising that one of the city’s longest-running, most successful fests happens to be one dedicated entirely to French cinema.

First known as City of Lights, City of Angels, the Colcoa French Film Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, returning to its longtime home at the DGA Theater Complex for a week’s worth of primo Franco fare. Opening with the Juliette Binoche-starrer “Between Two Worlds,” the festival will screen 55 films and series and 19 shorts from Nov. 1-7 — and after taking a gap-year in 2020 due to the pandemic, this year’s fest will be back in-person.

Reliably attracting 20,000 attendees a year in the pre-covid era, Colcoa’s ability to survive a quarter century has a lot...

Lotus Entertainment and Roar have boarded “French Touch,” a music-filled coming-of-age movie set in New York, starring French singer-songwriter David Hallyday and his real-life daughter Emma Smet.

The film will be directed by Shirley Monsarrat, who most recently helmed season 7 of the French teen hit series “Skam.” Jay Froberg at Roar and Jeremie Guiraud at Lotus Entertainment are producing, alongside Otto Eckstein, who also penned the original screenplay.

“French Touch” takes place in 2007 in Brooklyn, and follows Elle Leclerq (Smet) who clashes with her father Matthieu (Hallyday), a Parisian DJ and 70’s disco icon, as she discovers French house music and experiences an epic summer of musical exploration, parties and romance.

“We are thrilled to have David and Emma play father and daughter in ‘French Touch,'” said Eckstein. “Music is essential to the film and is a world David and Emma are certainly familiar with,” added the writer-producer. Eckstein...

Netflix has boarded new action-packed film projects in France, including the sequel of Guillaume Pierret’s thriller “Lost Bullet,” and Regis Blondeau’s “A Tombeau Ouvert,” a remake of the Korean film “A Hard Day.”

The service’s slate of Originals for 2021, meanwhile, comprises the action movie “The Last Mercenary” with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the series “Braqueurs,” a spinoff of Julien Leclercq’s movie.

The service is expecting to roll out 27 French Originals by the end of 2021, according to Anne-Gabrielle Dauba-Pantanacce, head of communications at Netflix.

The titles were announced during a virtual presentation of Netflix’s French slate for 2021, hosted by Damien Couvreur, head of French series originals, Sara May, Netflix’s head of acquisitions and co-productions for France and Italy, and Dauba-Pantanacce.

“Lost Bullet” is high-concept thriller revolving around a man who gets arrested after a failed robbery and starts working for a cop unit to avoid going to jail.

Netflix officially opened its offices in Paris a year ago today and to mark the anniversary the streamer has confirmed details of four upcoming projects.

On the film side, Guillaume Pierret will direct a sequel to his 2020 action pic Lost Bullet, which was a hit for Netflix, attracting more than 37 million viewers in its first four weeks, the company said.

Also in film, Régis Blondeau will remake the 2014 Korean film A Hard Day as A Tombeau Ouvert, starring Franck Gastambide and Simon Abkarian.

In TV, the company confirmed production today on two new series including The 7 lives Of Lea, created by Charlotte Sanson and produced by Empreinte Digitale. The cast will feature Raïka Hazanavicius, Khalil Ben Gharbia, Mélanie Doutey and Samuel Benchetrit. The story follows a woman who stumbles upon the body of Ismael, a teenager who disappeared thirty years earlier, with the event taking her back to 1991 and seeing...

Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with a review of a previously hard to find Gallic Spaghetti Western. Filmed in the Dolomites mountain range and primarily existing as a vehicle for the French rock ‘n’ roll singer Johnny Hallyday, this might well be Corbucci’s best looking Western. The respected French actresses Francoise Fabian and Sylvie Fennec bring a noticeable touch of class to a show that ends with wide shots of dozens of butt naked backsides.

The Specialists

Region B Blu-ray

Eureka Entertainment

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Gli Specialisti, Drop Them or I’ll Shoot / Street Date May 18, 2020 / £14.99

Starring: Johnny Hallyday, Francoise Fabian, Gaston Moschin, Mario Adorf, Sylvie Fennec, Gino Pernice, Angela Luce, Serge Marquand, Gabriella Tavernese, Andres Jose Cruz, Christian Belaygue, Stefano Cattarossi.

Cinematography: Dario Di Palma

Film Editor: Elsa Armanni

Production Designer: Riccardo Domenici

Original Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Written by Sergio Corbucci and Sabatino Ciuffini

Produced by Edmond Tenoudji,...

At the end of the 1950s, celebrated French documentarian François Reichenbach, whose lens captured the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Johnny Hallyday, spent eighteen months traveling the United States, documenting its diverse regions, their inhabitants and their pastimes. The result, America As Seen by a Frenchman, is a wide-eyed perhaps even naïve journey through a multitude of different Americas, filtered through a French sensibility and serving as a fascinating exploration of a culture that is both immediately familiar and thoroughly alien.

Prison rodeos; Miss America pageants; visits to Disneyland and a school for striptease; a town inhabited solely by twins; rows of newborns in incubators, like products on an assembly line all these weird and wondrous sights, and more, are captured, sans jugement, by Reichenbach s camera, aided by whimsical narration and a jaunty musical score by the late, great Michel Legrand (Une femme est une femme).

Titled L Amérique...

Warner Music gave thanks this week for a strong financial report, but the rest of the music world’s attention turned to grievances. One artist claimed he was the victim of unfair accusations of sexual harassment, while a band claimed to be concerned about the carbon footprint caused by touring.

On another front, a consortium of independent music companies worried that China’s Ten Cent buying into Universal Music would spell trouble for the overall health of the industry.

This week in music:

Placido Not Being Placid About Accusations: In his first interview since accusations of sexual harassment emerged, opera star Plácido Domingo said the situation has been “a nightmare” and denied any wrongdoing. Domingo, the founder and former head of the Los Angeles Opera, said Spaniards are naturally “warm, affectionate and loving,” adding that he has always been “gallant,” but saying “gallant gestures are viewed differently nowadays.” In August,...

After withdrawing from the latest James Bond movie over creative differences, Danny Boyle was delighted to direct Richard Curtis’ “delicious” screenplay for “Yesterday,” which wedges 17 of the best Beatles songs into a narrative about Jack Malik, a marginal British folk singer who wakes up from a global blackout as the only person who recalls the music of the Beatles. He tries to recover the lyrics, performs the songs, and becomes a huge (and fraudulent) pop star.

The movie performed above expectations last weekend, as the combo of Curtis, Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”), Lily James (“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), and the Beatles delivered a solid box office punch.

Curtis and Boyle met when the director recruited the writer to collaborate with comedian Rowan Atkinson as the iconic Mr. Bean at the London opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. After Boyle asked Curtis to keep him in mind for directing, “He sent back the script,...

After withdrawing from the latest James Bond movie over creative differences, Danny Boyle was delighted to direct Richard Curtis’ “delicious” screenplay for “Yesterday,” which wedges 17 of the best Beatles songs into a narrative about Jack Malik, a marginal British folk singer who wakes up from a global blackout as the only person who recalls the music of the Beatles. He tries to recover the lyrics, performs the songs, and becomes a huge (and fraudulent) pop star.

The movie performed above expectations last weekend, as the combo of Curtis, Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”), Lily James (“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), and the Beatles delivered a solid box office punch.

Curtis and Boyle met when the director recruited the writer to collaborate with comedian Rowan Atkinson as the iconic Mr. Bean at the London opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. After Boyle asked Curtis to keep him in mind for directing, “He sent back the script,...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Johnnie To's Vengeance (2009) is showing August 12 – September 11, 2018 in the United States as part of the series Johnnie To: Men on a Mission.Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s gangster story of violence and retribution has all the usual ingredients: icy hitmen, decisive tests of loyalty, grand showdowns, moody cityscapes…and food. Our aging hero, Francis Costello (French singer Johnny Hallyday), is a chef who owns a restaurant at the Champs-Élysées. And in an early scene, without wasting too much time—a quality that he shares with his director—Costello sets about displaying his culinary skills. He has just flown in to Macau upon hearing of the devastation that has befallen his daughter and her family, and is visiting her recently-decimated home for the first time. And yet, not once does he stop to grieve at the sight of his daughter’s destroyed haven,...

Mother and daughter Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet on screen for the first time in The Guardians: “When we play together I forget she is my daughter. She has her life, and I have mine. But being together was great fun - and I think we’re even closer now as a result.” Photo: UniFrance

After an absence of more than a decade, Nathalie Baye and director Xavier Beauvois who gave the actress her César award winning role as a flawed police inspector in The Young Lieutenant (Le Petit Lieutenant), have joined forces for the third time for a First World War drama about the women left behind in rural France after the menfolk have departed for the conflict.

It’s not only a reunion for Baye and Beauvois but also marks the first time she has worked in cinema with her daughter Laura Smet (playing mère et fille in The Guardians/Les Gardiennes,...

Mother and daughter Nathalie Baye and Laura Smet on screen for the first time in The Guardians: “When we play together I forget she is my daughter. She has her life, and I have mine. But being together was great fun - and I think we’re even closer now as a result.” Photo: UniFrance

After an absence of more than a decade, Nathalie Baye and director Xavier Beauvois who gave the actress her César award winning role as a flawed police inspector in The Young Lieutenant (Le Petit Lieutenant), have joined forces for the third time for a First World War drama about the women left behind in rural France after the menfolk have departed for the conflict.

It’s not only a reunion for Baye and Beauvois but also marks the first time she has worked in cinema with her daughter Laura Smet (playing mère et fille in The Guardians/Les Gardiennes,...

Other leading contenders include See You You There, Barbara and Bloody Milk.

Source: Cannes

‘Bpm (Beats Per Minute)’

Robin Campillo’s Aids activism drama Bpm (Beats Per Minute) leads nominations in France’s 2018 César awards which were announced in Paris on Wednesday morning (Jan 31).

Scroll down for the key nominations

The feature drama took 13 nominations including best film, best director and best screenplay and best male newcomer for its co-stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Arnaud Valois.

France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences unveiled the nominations at its traditional news conference at the Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées.

The popularity of Campillo’s film among the academy’s members came as little surprise. Although ignored by Oscar and Golden Globe, the Cannes Grand Prix winner has been a critical and box office success in France where the film has drawn more than 800,000 spectators for Memento Distribution.

It also leads the nominations in the upcoming...

France paid tribute to its late great rock star Johnny Hallyday over the weekend by putting the words “Merci Johnny” on the side of the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower Tribute To Johnny Hallyday Hallyday was an icon in France, and is recognized for bringing Rock & Roll to the country. He was considered the French Elvis […]

Source: uInterview

The post France Pays Tribute To Late Johnny Hallyday With ‘Merci Johnny’ Written On Eiffel Tower appeared first on uInterview.

France’s biggest rock star, Johnny Hallyday, has died, according to French president Emmanuel Macron‘s office. He was 74. French Rocker Johnny Hallyday Dead At 74 Hallyday sold out stadiums for decades with his high-energy songs. He was often lauded as the Elvis Presley of France due to his rock stardom and flexible hips. The French also […]

Source: uInterview

The post French Rock Icon Johnny Hallyday Dead At 74 appeared first on uInterview.

Update, Writetru with additional reaction: France is in mourning after waking up today to the news that its most beloved rock star, Johnny Hallyday, died overnight. Broadcast and cable networks, radio stations and newspapers all mobilized to pay tribute to the man known as the French Elvis. Social media is filled with reactions from fans, friends, entertainers and a fair few politicians. President Emmanuel Macron is understood to be favorable to planning an official day…...

Update, Writetru with additional reaction: France is in mourning after waking up today to the news that its most beloved rock star, Johnny Hallyday, died overnight. Broadcast and cable networks, radio stations and newspapers all mobilized to pay tribute to the man known as the French Elvis. Social media is filled with reactions from fans, friends, entertainers and a fair few politicians. President Emmanuel Macron is understood to be favorable to planning an official day…...

French rock idol Johnny Hallyday, remembered as the nation’s answer to Elvis Presley in the 1960s, has died at age 74.

The legendary singer died from lung cancer, his family confirmed.

“Johnny Hallyday has left us,” Hallyday’s wife, Laeticia, said in a statement to The Guardian. “I write these words without believing them. But yet, it’s true. My man is no longer with us. He left us tonight as he lived his whole life, with courage and dignity.”

Beginning in 1960, Hallyday was the heartbeat of Gallic rock n’ roll, becoming its best known and best-selling artist for nearly six decades.

Johnny Hallyday, known as the “French Elvis” for his massively popular recordings and acting career, has died. He was 74 years old and had been battling cancer, according to Agence France Presse. Widely credited as the first French star to popularize early rock ‘n roll in France, Halladay sold more than 110 million records over his 50-year career. He sang French-language covers of American pop, starting with his 1960 debut album. His appearances soon set off near-riots…...

Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan embark on a goofy intergalactic caper in a dated-looking sci-fi epic from the director of The Fifth Element – as Rihanna makes a classy Cabaret-style turn

It’s not accurate or pertinent to complain of deja vu after watching Luc Besson’s goofy sci-fi Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. It might look a bit like his film The Fifth Element (1997), but then that movie made Besson look like Johnny Hallyday to Ridley Scott’s Elvis, and in any case Valerian is derivative in more ways than this.

The film is based on a French comic-book series that has been running since the 1960s, and it stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline, sleek and preposterous space agents in the 28th century. Their mission – while bickering sexily among themselves – is to rescue a certain animal that has the power to reproduce...

Exclusive: Sales deal for comedy-drama Chacun Sa Vie.

WestEnd Films has boarded world sales to Claude Lelouch’s Everyone’s Life (Chacun Sa Vie), starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin and rock star Johnny Hallyday.

The film celebrates Oscar and Palme d’Or-winner Lelouch’s 50-year cinema career with a cast of A-list French actors, in a feel good comedy about 12 men and 12 women who face romantic complications in the Burgundy wine-country town of Beaune, during its annual jazz festival.

The film is produced by Lelouch for Films 13 and Samuel Hadida and Victor Hadida for Davis Films (Resident Evil).

The film was released in France in late March by Samuel and Victor Hadida’s Metropolitan Filmexport, which also holds French rights to the film.

In addition to Dujardin and Hallyday, the cast also includes Béatrice Dalle, Mathilde Seigner, Christophe Lambert, Deborah François, Elsa Zylberstein and Eric Dupond-Moretti .

WestEnd will begin world sales at the market in Cannes, where it will...

Au Beaune Pain: Lelouch Continues with Frivolous Comedy Spackle

Somewhere along the way Palme d’Or and Oscar winning auteur Claude Lelouch (1966’s A Man and a Woman) morphed into the Garry Marshall of French film, churning out vapid comedy vehicles sporting a glitzy array of notable Gallic stars. Whenever the slide began, his tendencies to overstuff his narratives with zany layers of (often inconsequential) tangential sub-plotting began years ago, look no further than his 1986 sequel to his most famous film, A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later for longstanding evidence of the change. His later period reflects the stamp of various muses, such as actress Audrey Dana, and now, frequent co-author Valerie Perrin. With 2013’s We Love You, You Bastard and 2015’s Un + Une, Lelouch has become completely divorced from his illustrious past filmography, a chasm only widened by his latest venture, Everybody’s Life, once more featuring Johnny Hallyday and Jean Dujardin amongst a cavalcade of a cast, all whirling through this odd kitchen sink array of miscellaneous characters all inclined to converse about their Zodiac signs as they fall in and out of romantic love or obsessive yearning during a a year’s time in Beaune, France.

As an annual jazz festival gets underway, a slew of characters intersect and coverage in the provincial town of Beaune in the Burgundy region. A judge (Eric Dupond-Moretti) must contend with the news of Clementine’s (Beatrice Dalle) retirement, a local prostitute whose company has brought him great joy since the death of his wife. Meanwhile, his colleague Nathalie (Julie Ferrier) falls out of a window after finding her husband (Gerard Darmon) with another man, sharing an ambulance with a hypochondriac singer (Mathilde Seigner) who believes she is having a heart attack following a performance at the festival. At the same time, a tawdry court case has drawn together another subsection of the community, including the troubled alcoholic Antoine (Christophe Lambert), currently facing the dissolution of his own marriage with his disconsolate wife (Marianne Denicourt) betwixt legal troubles. And as famed singer Johnny Hallyday faces a problem with a slippery doppelganger (who has a tryst with an unhappily married Comtesse played by Elsa Zylberstein, married to Vincent Perez), which causes some confusion with local cop Jean (Jean Dujardin), the marriage between former beauty queen (Nadia Fares) and Stephane (Stephane De Groodt) is also on the rocks. Meanwhile, the local hospital has decided to engage a new policy wherein patients must be put at ease through sexually provocative jokes, which brings a chummy nurse (Deborah Francois) into contact with several patients.

If Max Ophuls had wanted to make La Ronde (1950) into a relationship farce (to be fair, Roger Vadim kind of did this with his remake) set to light jazz, it might look something like Everybody’s Life. However, Lelouch feels as if he filmed his illustrious cast in a number of amusing scenarios and pasted the end results together as he saw fit, clipping it into a semblance of repeated scenarios with revolving characters, all who end up professing their love, being destroyed by it, or simply moving on to another chapter. However, the film is neither subtle nor diverse in its repetitive techniques, and for as entertaining as it is to see Hallyday and Dujardin horse around as they take selfies, the frivolousness quickly gets wearying, particularly by its grand framed finale, where we return to the court room a year later after the film’s beginning, with Lelouch stuffing all his characters, whether it makes sense or not, into the same room.

Gregoire Lacroix assists Perrin, Pierre Uytterhoeven (who co-wrote A Man and a Woman) and Lelouch in this adaptation from his own prose, but Everybody’s Life drifts aimlessly, as if besotted by the presence of its own unlucky in love characters all experiencing the same approximation of discontent. Most of these formulas are tedious, if not forgettable, with a glaring bright spot from Beatrice Dalle as a prostitute who wants nothing more to do with sex or men and relish the retirement she deserves. If somewhat less ungainly than rom-com Un+Une and the loopy We Love You, You Bastard, this isn’t a return to form or an ascension to new heights for Lelouch, try as it might to ‘experiment’ with traditional narrative form.

Reviewed on April 24th at the 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival – Opening Night Film. 113 Mins.

★★½/☆☆☆☆☆

The post Everybody’s Life | 2017 Colcoa French Film Festival Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.

The first thing you need to accept about “Rock’n’Roll” — an endearingly bizarre showbiz satire in which actor and filmmaker Guillaume Canet (“Tell No One”) plays a hyper-neurotic version of himself who suffers one of the worst mid-life crises since “8 1/2” — is that the movie never asks you to feel sorry for the guy who goes home to Marion Cotillard. On the contrary, Canet’s new comedy (his first outing behind the camera since his English-language debut flopped in 2013) is a bruised, self-deprecating spectacle that finds the French celebrity mocking himself for the fragility of his own ego.

Yes, the movie argues that stars might sense their expiration dates approaching more acutely than the rest of us, and yes, it dwells on how difficult it is to know that everyone is watching you and judging you and measuring you against your former self. Still, “Rock’n’Roll” is able to...

City of Lights: City of Angeles. The largest French film festival in the world and one of the largest festivals in L.A.!

Colcoa French Film Festival, “9 Days of Premieres in Hollywood” takes place April 24 to May 2 in the prestigious theaters of the Directors Guild of America on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood (3 theaters (600, 160 and 37 seats), a 210 capacity lounge and a 1,500 capacity lobby).

Colcoa is the acronym of “City of Light, City of Angels” the original name of an event celebrating relationships between filmmakers from two capital cities of cinema. In 2015, the festival’s name was officially changed to Colcoa French Film Festival. Colcoa was founded in 1997 by The Franco-American Cultural Fund, a unique collaborative effort of the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, the Writers Guild of America West, and France’s Society of Authors Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem). Colcoa is also supported by l’Association...

The European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival marks the first major film market of the year, and is one of the few events where nearly everyone from the global movie business comes together to network and launch new projects.

Read More: 5 Exciting Films in the 2017 Berlin Film Festival Competition Lineup

This year’s Efm will draw more than 1,600 buyers from roughly 70 countries into a deal-making bonanza for films in every stage of development and production, much like the American Film Market in Los Angeles and the Marché du Film in Cannes. Efm will include around 730 screenings this year, more than 600 of which will be market premieres.

What are the movies and screenplays already on executives’ radars? Here are 10 hot projects that could be prime targets.

“Borg/McEnroe”

Summary: This sports drama stars Shia Labeouf as John McEnroe and Sverrir Gudnason as Björn Borg. The movie focuses on the pair’s 1980 Wimbledon tennis championship,...

After working together on Little White Lies and Blood Ties, for the third time this decade Guillaume Canet has directed his partner Marion Cotillard. The film, titled Rock’n Roll, doesn’t have U.S. distribution yet, but it’ll arrive in France early next year and so it’s time for the first international trailer.

A drama with a meta spin, Canet and Cotillard play themselves, with the latter telling the former he’s not rock ‘n’ roll enough, so he “freaks out” and goes to learn from the French king of rock, Johnny Hallyday. While the first trailer is free of subtitles, one can see the meta elements at play with awards shows and studio back lots. Canet, whose last film was co-scripted by James Gray, hasn’t quite had the U.S break-out that some other French contemporaries have had, but hopefully this one gets some attention here.

Exclusive: Filming has commenced on The Time Of Their Lives, also starring Franco Nero and Joely Richardson; Sir Tim Rice to oversee the soundtrack.

Shoot is underway in France on road-trip-comedy The Time Of Their Lives, starring Golden Globe-winner Dame Joan Collins (Dynasty) and BAFTA-winner Pauline Collins, OBE (Shirley Valentine).

In writer-director Roger Goldby’s (Call The Midwife) feature, a former Hollywood siren Helen (Joan Collins), who is determined to gatecrash her ex-lover’s funeral, escapes her London retirement home with the help of Priscilla (Pauline Collins), a downtrodden English housewife trapped in an unhappy marriage.

Franco Nero (Django Unchained) will play Alberto, a famous and eccentric Italian painter. Alberto becomes entangled with the two ladies and inspired by their madness, joins their road trip and, in turn, becomes part of an uneasy love triangle between Helen and Priscilla, who both vie for his attentions.

The main cast are joined by Joely Richardson (101 Dalmatians) and Ronald Pickup (Best...

Exclusive: Filming has commenced on The Time Of Their Lives, also starring Franco Nero and Joely Richardson; Sir Tim Rice to oversee the soundtrack.

Shoot is underway in France on road-trip-comedy The Time Of Their Lives, starring Golden Globe-winner Dame Joan Collins (Dynasty) and BAFTA-winner Pauline Collins, OBE (Shirley Valentine).

In writer-director Roger Goldby’s (Call The Midwife) feature, a former Hollywood siren Helen (Joan Collins), who is determined to gatecrash her ex-lover’s funeral, escapes her London retirement home with the help of Priscilla (Pauline Collins), a downtrodden English housewife trapped in an unhappy marriage.

Franco Nero (Django Unchained) will play Alberto, a famous and eccentric Italian painter. Alberto becomes entangled with the two ladies and inspired by their madness, joins their road trip and, in turn, becomes part of an uneasy love triangle between Helen and Priscilla, who both vie for his attentions.

The main cast are joined by Joely Richardson (101 Dalmatians) and Ronald Pickup (Best...

Bridge of Spies, Jane Got a Gun, Steve Jobs junkets cancelled.

Most Paris cinemas were due to reopen their doors on Monday in the aftermath of terror attacks on the French capital that killed at least 132 people and left 350 injured, 99 severely.

In a campaign to mark France’s three days of national mourning, which entered its final day on Monday, the National Federation for French Cinemas (Fncf) announced it was making available a silent, seven-minute Dcp showing the “Peace for Paris” symbol and suggested cinemas played the clip ahead of screenings.

“Cinema theatres are among the most important places of culture in the heart of the city… Cinema must participate actively in fostering social links and national unity during this moment of mourning and solidarity,” said Fncf president Richard Patry.

The design incorporating the Eiffel Tower into the peace symbol, created by French graphic designer Jean Jullien in the wake of the attacks, has become...

Bridge of Spies, Jane Got a Gun, Steve Jobs junkets cancelled.

Most Paris cinemas were due to reopen their doors on Monday in the aftermath of terror attacks on the French capital that killed at least 132 people and left 350 injured, 99 severely.

In a campaign to mark France’s three days of national mourning, which entered its final day on Monday, the National Federation for French Cinemas (Fncf) announced it was making available a silent, seven-minute Dcp showing the “Peace for Paris” symbol and suggested cinemas played the clip ahead of screenings.

“Cinema theatres are among the most important places of culture in the heart of the city… Cinema must participate actively in fostering social links and national unity during this moment of mourning and solidarity,” said Fncf president Richard Patry.

The design incorporating the Eiffel Tower into the peace symbol, created by French graphic designer Jean Jullien in the wake of the attacks, has become...

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai at the Oscars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on the Academy Awards' Red Carpet Pictured above are Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan arriving at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Two years ago, an Anglo-Indian-American co-production, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire became not only one of the season's biggest sleeper hits, but also the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner. Dev Patel and Freida Pinto starred. Curiously, some have complained that Slumdog Millionaire was just a less interesting rehash of higher-quality Bollywood musicals and dramas that have received relatively little play outside South Asian communities around the globe. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai movies The son of Indian cinema legend Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan has been featured in nearly 50 films. Among them are: Dhoom (2004). Director: Sanjay Gadhvi. Cast: Abhishek Bachchan. Uday Chopra. John Abraham. Esha Deol.

Sir Bob Geldof announced that he has begun assembling a team of pop stars to take part in a rerecording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Band Aid single.

"Do They Know It's Christmas" #BandAid30

“Do They Know It’s Christmas,” written by Geldof and Midge Ure, first came out in 1984, featuring a huge array of famous singers. The Band Aid single was originally created to raise funds to combat famine in Ethiopia.

In honor of the song’s 30th anniversary, Geldolf announced that he and Ure would be returning with a new charitable album, Band Aid 30. Band Aid 30 will raise money to help treat Ebola in Africa. “Thirty years ago people wanted to help and wanted to make a difference. We want that again,” Ure said.

The original hope was to raise £250,000 to combat famine. 30 years & $230m later, #BandAid30 returns to tackle Ebola pic.

The Big Bad Wolves boys are coming to Hollywood, word breaking today that Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado - the Israeli duo behind Rabies and Big Bad Wolves - have signed on to direct a remake of Johnnie To's Vengeance. And, honestly, if you're going to remake a Johnnie To film, this is a pretty good one to pick given that the story of a French chef with a past traveling to Hong Kong to exact revenge on the people responsible for the killing of his family has a fantastic premise and flashes of To's signature style while also being severely hampered by a poor central performance from French singer Johnny Hallyday in the lead role. There's room to improve here, basically, where if you...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Santa Barbara International Film Festival expands to Latino Cinema

Not only did Sbiff host a new summer film showcase “The Wave Film Festival” which just conclude with Claude Lelouch's 'We Love You, You Bastard' winning the Audience Award its inaugural event, but Mickey Duzdevich, the new Wave Film Festival Director, along with Sbiff Executive Director Roger Durling, have announced, “Due to its success with over 3,000 attendees, we have decided to return next Spring with a Spanish and Latin America edition, along with the 2nd French Wave next July. As we approach our 30th anniversary, it's fantastic that we're able to expand Sbiff's vision and programming.”

Says Mickey Duzdevich, "The Wave was a huge success and left patrons with a new joy for French cinema. It was a delight to bring the culture of France to our own Riviera and give the moviegoer an enhanced experience. We look forward to the future of The Wave Film Festival and we're excited to share the beauty of cinema from all over the world.”

"We Love You, You Bastard" (Salaud, on t'aime) is Claude Lelouch's 44th feature film. French rock icon Johnny Hallyday plays Jacques, a retired war photographer attempting to live a peaceful life in the Alps. With a new girlfriend, Nathalie, he appears content, but his old friend Frédéric, played by another singing idol, Eddy Mitchell, knows better. There is a little matter of four daughters, each one from a different conquest, each one estranged from him, and each leaving their shadow on Jacques’ emotional life.

Realizing that reconciliation is the thing Jacques craves most, Frédéric, a doctor, concocts a little lie to convince the daughters to visit their absentee father. Well, not so little. In fact, it’s a really big lie, and as the family gathers, as accounts are settled through tears and laughter, the lie gets harder and harder to retract. The luminous lineup of female stars includes a radiant Sandrine Bonnaire.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by Ugg® Australia, will celebrate its 30th Anniversary January 27 – February 7, 2015. Dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema, Sbiff will offer 12 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums that range from American indie films to world cinema and everything in-between. With its commitment to cultural diversity and powerful storytelling, Sbiff transforms beautiful downtown Santa Barbara, CA into a rich destination for film lovers, attracting more than 85,000 attendees. Sbiff brings to the forefront the importance and power of the art of filmmaking and continues its commitment to providing free children’s education and community outreach programs through its 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competitions, Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies, AppleBox Family Films, 3rd Weekend and educational seminars. The annual 25% sale on passes and packages for Sbiff starts July 21 and runs through August 31. To purchase or for more information, log onto www.sbfilmfestival.org or call 805-963-0023.

A Man and His Women: Lelouch’s Latest a Lumbering, Bloated Ensemble

Nearing his 80’s and with over fifty credits to his name, Oscar and Palme d’Or winning director Claude Lelouch bows his latest venture, We Love You, You Bastard, co-written with writer/actress Valerie Perrin, a title that elicits the kind of chuckles the film itself does not. A dysfunctional family drama harpooned on a comedy of errors scheme flaccidly spins into an ellipses of Bunuelian progeny patterns before a sharp left into Agatha Christie territory extends the running time by an unnecessary forty five minutes. With a varied cast of major French talents, there are a handful of successful moments, but without pronounced payoff. At best, a fluff piece showcasing some industry pros, the increasingly erring narrative mistakes wonky details for subtle prowess and is unfortunately a grating effort from the master director, whose other more recent...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund has announced the line-up for the 18th annual City of Lights, City of Angels (Colcoa) Film Festival. Held at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, the festival will present 41 features, which include three International Premieres, 17 North American/U.S. Premieres, and 20 new shorts. Opening night will be the North American premiere of "We Love You, You Bastard," directed by Oscar-winner Claude Lelouch, co-written by Valerie Perrin, and starring Johnny Hallyday, Sandrine Bonnaire, and Eddy Mitchell. The film opens in France today. The last film in competition is "Quantum of Love," which has its North American premiere on Sunday April 27th. The romance was penned and directed by Lisa Auelos, and stars Sophie Marceau, of "Braveheart" fame. Two films will have an exclusive presentation at Colcoa, a week before their French Release: The new romance, "Not My Type," written and directed by Lucas Belvaux and...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund has announced the lineup for the 18th edition of the City of Lights, City of Angels (Colcoa) film festival. Running April 21-28 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, the fest will present 41 features, including three international premieres, and many North American and Us premieres. (Trailers below.) The opening night film is "We Love You, You Bastard," the new film from director Claude Lelouch ("A Man and a Woman") starring Johnny Hallyday and Sandrine Bonnaire. The closing night double bill, on April 28, will be announced during the festival. Other notable films on the lineup include Roman Polanski's Best Director Cesar-winning "Venus in Fur," Catherine Breillat's latest collaboration with Isabelle Huppert "Abuse of Weakness" and Francois Ozon's "Young and Beautiful," with Charlotte Rampling. Films "Marius" and "Fanny" by French actor Daniel Auteuil ("Cache") will also make their way to the fest, along with "Jacky in the.

Claude Lelouch’s We Love You, You Bastard to open Hollywood event.

The Franco-American Cultural Fund (Facf) has announced the programme for the 18th Annual City Of Lights, City Of Angels (Colcoa) film festival, set to run from April 21-28.

Tthe festival will present a total of 41 features, including three international premieres, 17 North American or Us premieres, 16 West Coast premieres and 20 new shorts.

“Colcoa has become not only a showcase but a brand to promote French films in the Us,” said Colcoa executive producer and artistic director François Truffart.

“Diversity remains the main feature of this 18th spectrum of French creativity, and also because American tastes for foreign films are actually quite varied.”

Colcoa will open on April 21 with the North American premiere of Claude Lelouch’s We Love You, You Bastard starring Johnny Hallyday, Sandrine Bonnaire and Eddy Mitchell. The film opens in France this week.

Closing the festival on April 28 are two films that will...

Salaud on t’aime

Director: Claude Lelouch

Writers: Claude Lelouch, Valerie Perrin

Producer: Jean-Paul De Vidas

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Johnny Hallyday, Jacky Ido, Irene Jacob, Valerie Kaprisky

While his 2007 film, Roman de Gare received notable art house play and served as an introduction to Lelouche’s new muse, Audrey Dana, his next film, 2010′s What War May Bring never received a Us release. But we’re thinking his latest film shouldn’t follow that same fate, featuring a stellar cast, headlined by the resplendent Sandrine Bonnaire, supported by Johnny Hallyday and Jacky Ido. But then, check it out, Irene Jacob and Valerie Kaprisky are in the supporting cast.

Gist: Lelouch describes the film as being about the four cardinal points of life: love, work, friendship and family.

Release Date: With an April domestic release in France, we’re thinking this might end up at Tribeca.