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[This story contains major spoilers from the Day of the Jackal season finale.]

When The Day of the Jackal executive producers Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant took on a TV remake of Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 historical novel, they had a dilemma.

Should they kill off the chameleon assassin played by Eddie Redmayne, as happened in the original 1973 movie? Or have him survive for a second season and another possible multiseason franchise?

As viewers saw during the Sky and Peacock series’ riveting two-episode finale (released on Thursday night), the Jackal — in a shock twist — survives the 10-episode first season, and it’s Bianca Pullman, Lashana Lynch’s MI6 agent who pursued Redmayne’s Jackal across Europe, who meets a grisly death in the end.

Of course, that’s a flip ending to Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film adaptation where Lebel, the reluctant detective played by Michael Lonsdale, ultimately kills the Jackal just as the hired killer reloads his rifle for another shot. But saying goodbye...

It's a common lament that there aren't enough original movies anymore, and that every film not belonging to a franchise is born of a pre-existing intellectual property that's likely been mined before. How many trips are we going to take back to Middle-earth? Are we really doing Harry Potter again? And another "Wuthering Heights" with a white Heathcliffe (when he's written as Black in Emily Brontë's novel)?

Yet some yarns are more durable than others. There's always room for another "Hamlet," because part of the thrill is in watching great actors and directors tackle one of the greatest plays ever written -- one that can be shifted from Denmark to locales like New York City, the Elsinore brewery, or Pride Rock. And no one's mad when one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries gets dusted off, even though we all know how the plot shakes out.

Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

Streaming on: Sky / Now

Fred Zinnemann’s admirably faithful 1973 adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s The Day Of The Jackal managed two rather unusual feats. It was, on the one hand, a surprising triumph of the mundane, with Michael Lonsdale’s methodical, shoe-leather approach to investigation paying dividends in what was essentially a nation-hopping police procedural. More interesting, though, was the way its dual Pov narrative encouraged audiences to root just as hard for Edward Fox’s cold-blooded assassin — a nameless cypher, about whom we end the film knowing almost nothing. It’s that latter point that Top Boy creator Ronan Bennett has seized upon with this modernised adaptation, electing to properly delve into the character of Forsyth’s chameleonic killer.

We become acquainted with Eddie Redmayne’s exceedingly British gun-for-hire via an extended prologue in which he meticulously sets up and executes a show-stopping kill. After baiting...

As many cinephiles already know, the 1970s was a fantastic time for paranoid political thrillers, assassin movies (“The American Friend”), and films based on the rising tide of terrorism (“Black Sunday”; in fact we devoted an entire feature to this genre several years ago). One film that covered all those bases and was pretty popular then was 1973’s “The Day Of The Jackal,” directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale.

Continue reading ‘Day Of The Jackal’ Trailer: Eddie Redmayne & Lashana Lynch Star In A Cat & Mouse Spy Peacock Series at The Playlist.

The James Bond franchise has captivated audiences for decades, with its suave secret agent saving the world from nefarious villains. Many actors have donned the iconic role, and an array of talented actresses have played the coveted Bond girls. However, one leading lady has her sights set on a different challenge.

Saoirse Ronan, the Oscar-nominated actress, has expressed her desire to play a James Bond villain. The actress revealed in an interview that she wanted to star in a big commercial movie, like the franchise in question, but as the main villain. News about the upcoming Bond 26 movie are scarce but there are countless rumors about the actor who would replace Daniel Craig as the lead.

The Bond franchise’s next villain: The next big step

Saoirse Ronan, the talented Irish-American actress, has established herself as a leading lady in Hollywood with a diverse range of critically acclaimed performances.

This August, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment with the highly anticipated Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, an all-new action-comedy film starring John Cena and Awkwafina titled Jackpot!, and an animated Batman series titled Batman: Caped Crusader. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Prime Video in August 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Fargo (August 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Fargo is a dark comedy crime drama film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The 1996 film follows the story of Jerry, a sales manager who is under a huge debt. To repay his loan he hatches a plan to hire two henchmen to kidnap his wife and...

In the universe of James Bond, there are several tiers of villains. There are the primary villains, of course, the mad geniuses like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Auric Goldfinger, Karl Stromberg, or Max Zorin, who plot to take down financial institutions, governments, military installations, or even the entire world. Sometimes it’s even all of the above Next, however, are the secondary adversaries who may support the main villain in their plans but are often either in it for their own financial gain (as opposed to world conquest), or because they’re in trouble, and this is their only way out. Think of Pussy Galore from Goldfinger, Milton Krest from Licence to Kill, General Ouromov from GoldenEye, Professor Dent from Dr. No… and the list goes on and on.

And then there are the henchmen who are there for one sole reason: to kill James Bond, or in the words of one famous villain,...

Claudia Squitieri with her mother Claudia Cardinale on Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo: “it’s one of her most adventurous experiences.” Photo: courtesy of Claudia Squitieri

In the second instalment with Claudia Squitieri we discuss more of the films her mother, Claudia Cardinale, starred in. Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Mick Jagger, Jason Robards, Thomas Mauch, My Best Fiend, and filming Fitzcarraldo; encountering Fernando Trueba (The Artist And Model) in Deauville and reconnecting with Jean Rochefort; Manoel de Oliveira and an “atmosphere of mysticality” during the making of Gebo and the Shadow with Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale, shot by Renato Berta; Blake Edwards and The Pink Panther, the problem with sequels and playing Roberto Benigni’s mother in Son Of The Pink Panther all came up in our conversation.

Claudia Squitieri from Paris on Roberto Benigni with Claudia Cardinale: “He was going “Claudia!!!!” Jumping around every time he saw my mother.

François Truffaut’s ode to Hitchcock and Cornell Woolrich is an ice-cold femme revenge tale. Jeanne Moreau exacts retribution from five men who made her a widow on her wedding day. Truffaut winds it as tightly as a mousetrap, leaving Ms. Moreau’s psychology a mystery — feminists can debate whether the film is misogynistic. Raoul Coutard’s color cinematography is deceptively warm and inviting; the film’s biggest boost comes from Bernard Herrmann’s powerful music score.

The Bride Wore Black

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1968 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date February 14, 2023 / La mariée était en noir / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy, Charles Denner, Claude Rich, Michael Lonsdale, Daniel Boulanger, Alexandra Stewart, Sylvine Delannoy, Luce Fabiole, Michèle Montfort.

Cinematography: Raoul Coutard

Production Designer: Pierre Guffroy

Film Editor: Claudine Bouché

Original Music: Bernard Herrmann

Written by François Truffaut, Jean-Louis Richard from the novel by William Irish...

Jean-Jacques Annaud directs Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose (Der Name Der Rose), the film version of the novel by Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose is a great adaptation of the most important work by Umberto Eco. A mystery story set in an era of supersitions (Fourteenth century) with the Inquisition in the middle.

Orson Welles said that one should adapt lesser literary works. This time, the director and the entire team do a great job by focusing on the detective story part of the literary work.

Story line

Brother William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his disciple Adso de Melk (Christian Slater) arrive at an abbey where one of the monks died recently, where the abbot hopes that Brother William will be able to solve the crimes.

Our erudite friend is a man far removed from superstition and he tries to find a logical explanation for everything,...

Frederick Forsyth’s classic spy novel The Day of the Jackal is set to receive a TV series adaptation from Sky and Peacock.

The Day of the Jackal follows “a professional assassin who is contracted by a French paramilitary dissident to kill French President Charles de Gaulle.” The TV series will be a “contemporary reimagining of the beloved and respected novel,” with Ronan Bennett (Top Boy) set to serve as writer and showrunner and Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones) directing. The novel was previously adapted as a feature film directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1973, which starred Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale. The film received rave reviews and went on to win Best Film Editing at the 1974 BAFTA Awards, where it was also nominated for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Soundtrack.

Carnival Films executive Gareth Neame teased that the Day of the...

After acquiring the streaming rights to the recent "Halloween" movies, the ongoing "Chucky" franchise, and even a "Friday the 13th" prequel series (yes, which means you can start placing your bets on when exactly we'll receive a crossover extravaganza), Peacock continues to make some pretty significant moves.

Variety reports that UK broadcaster Sky Studios and the Peacock streaming service have joined forces to create a series based on the 1971 political thriller novel "The Day of the Jackal," written by author Frederick Forsyth, and its classic 1973 big-screen adaptation of the same name, directed by Fred Zinnemann. Set in 1963 during the pivotal moment in history when French president Charles de Gaulle granted neighboring Algeria its independence, the fictional story follows a ruthless assassin who goes by the codename of "Jackal" who is recruited by the far-right Organisation de L'Armée Secrète (Oas) to take out de Gaulle in retaliation. The novel went on...

A TV series adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s thriller novel “The Day of the Jackal” has been ordered by Peacock and Sky, it was announced Thursday.

First published in 1971, the original “The Day of the Jackal” novel is set in 1963, the year the president of France, Charles de Gaulle, granted Algeria its independence. The move resulted in several assassination attempts on his life, mostly from the far-right Organisation de L’Armée Secrète (Oas). The novel focuses on a fictional Oas plot to kill de Gaulle via a mysterious foreign assassin with the codename “The Jackal.” Meanwhile, the French government gets wind of the plot and hires Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel to find and capture the assassin. The novel was well received upon publication, and Forsyth received an Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America in 1972.

Sky and Peacock’s adaptation is described as a “contemporary reimagining” of the novel,...

Expatriate blacklistee Joseph Losey is the perfect director for this excellent, strange tale, a big award winner in France. The terrible Occupation-era victimization of the Jewish citizens of Paris is told tangentially from the viewpoint of a jackal-like opportunist who buys art and valuables cheaply from Jews desperate for cash. But Klein has a little ‘doppelgänger’ problem straight out of Franz Kafka . . . and finds himself in an existential nightmare that’s strangely . . . appropriate. This original, superior thriller arrives in a new special edition.

Mr. Klein

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1123

1976 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 123 min. / Monsieur Klein / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 10, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Alain Delon, Jeanne Moreau, Francine Bergé, Michael Lonsdale, Juliet Berto, Suzanne Flon, Massimo Girotti, Jean Champion, Francine Racette, Louis Seigner.

Cinematography: Gerry Fisher

Production Designer: Alexandre Trauner

Film Editors: Marie Castro-Vasquez, Henri Lanoë, Michèle Neny

Original Music: Egisto Macchi, Pierre Porte

Written by Franco Solinas, collaborator...

In the course of his nearly 50-year career on the screen, the late Sean Connery portrayed many famous characters, both fictional and non-fictional. Among those were, of course, Ian Fleming’s suave spy James Bond in seven films; Daniel Druvot in 1975’s The Man Who Would Be King; King Arthur in 1995’s First Knight, Robin Hood in 1976’s Robin and Marian; Dr. Henry Jones Sr. in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and many more.

One role Connery never got to play was Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes. But he did come close, playing a character who was based at least in part on Holmes, in the 1986 movie The Name of the Rose.

Based on the best-selling 1980 novel by Italian historian, philosopher and author Umberto Eco, the book and the film are set in 1327, as a Franciscan monk named William of Baskerville (Connery) and his young...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: aKasha.We've been alerted by the programming team at the Toronto International Film Festival that Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka (aKasha), along with five other artists, has been sentenced to two months in prison.Speaking of TIFF, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland won the disrupted festival's People's Choice Award. Other notable winners this year include Michelle Latimer's Inconvenient Indian, Chaitanya Tamhane's The Disciple, and Dea Kulumbegashvili's Beginning.The great French actor Michael Lonsdale has died at the age of 89. Lonsdale's career range was incredible, including Jacques Rivette's epic Out 1, the James Bond film Moonraker, Marguerite Duras's India Song, and Spielberg's Munich. His physically towering presence was one of the great connective tissues across international cinema.Recommended VIEWINGSpike Lee has been having a big year, first with Da 5 Bloods...

Stage and screen actor who played the villain Hugo Drax in the 1979 Bond film Moonraker

Although he appeared in several English-language blockbusters, Michael Lonsdale, who has died aged 89, was an indispensable part of French cinema for well over half a century. He had roles in more than 180 films and television shows, in addition to working in the theatre. He won a César for his role in Des Hommes et Des Dieux, as one of a group of Trappist monks living in rural Algeria. “I’d vowed never to accept another role as a priest,” Lonsdale said, “but I couldn’t resist playing this wonderful, generous character.”

It was Orson Welles who first cast Lonsdale as a priest, in The Trial (1962). “We only shot for one night, but he must have done 20 takes for my scene. Welles was incredibly nice and every few minutes, he would keep asking me: ‘Are you happy,...

Paris-born actor Michael Lonsdale, who starred as the villain Hugo Drax in the James Bond film Moonraker and appeared in a variety of foreign-language features has passed away at 89. Word of his death was shared by his agent, Olivier Loiseau, who says the actor died Monday at his home in Paris, France. Known for playing a raft of intriguing characters throughout his storied career,…...

Bond villain and The Day Of The Jackal star Michael Lonsdale: “It was a great experience to make a very popular film” he said of his experience on Moonraker Photo: Agence Aartis

A veteran with one of the most familiar faces and distinctive lugubrious tones, Michael Lonsdale, who soared to international recognition as the villain Hugo Drax in the James Bond film Moonraker and the detective Claude Lebel in The Day Of The Jackal, has died in Paris at the age of 89.

His Anglo-Saxon demeanour came from his English father while his Gallic and Celtic influence came via his Irish-French mother. He spent his childhood in London, moved briefly with his parents to Jersey and then Morocco finally returning to live in Paris in 1947.

Michael Lonsdale … cultivating orchids in Bouli Lanners’ The First, The Last Photo: UniFrance

There he started studying painting before being drawn in to the world of acting,...

Paris-born actor was best-known internationally for Moonraker and Of Gods And Men.

French-British actor Michael Lonsdale, who is best known internationally for his role as the James Bond villain Hugo Drax in Moonraker, has died at his home in Paris at the age of 89.

Lonsdale was born in Paris to an English army officer and French-Irish mother and spent his childhood in Guernsey and then Morocco, where his father was interned during World War Two.

Upon returning to Paris after the war, Lonsdale took acting classes and broke into theatre and then cinema and TV, working prodigiously in all three arenas thoughout his career.

The César-winning actor appeared in films by François Truffaut and Alain Resnais, and played religious figures in Of Gods and Men and The Name of the Rose

Michael Lonsdale, the French-British actor whose best known role was the villain Drax in Moonraker but who also appeared in a string of films by auteur directors such as François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and Alain Resnais, has died aged 89. Lonsdale’s agent, Olivier Loiseau, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the actor had died at his home in Paris.

Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson said in a statement: “He was an extraordinarily talented actor and a very dear friend. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.”...

Michael Lonsdale, the veteran British-French actor known for his roles in Bond movie Moonraker and thriller The Day of the Jackal, has died in Paris, his agent has confirmed to Deadline. He was 89.

Lonsdale appeared in more than 200 film and TV projects, working both in English and French.

Among his other most high-profile English-language films were drama The Remains of The Day, crime pic Ronin and historical-thriller Munich.

Born in Paris and raised on the island of Guernsey and then London, Lonsdale returned to Paris to study painting in 1947. He first appeared on stage at 24 and would go on to score roles in 1950s French genre movies.

In the 1970s, he worked with acclaimed directors including Louis Malle, Marcel Carné, Joseph Losey, Alain Resnais, Jacques Bral and Marguerite Duras. In the same decade, he was BAFTA-nominated for his supporting role in thriller The Day of the Jackal, about an attempted...

Michael Lonsdale, the actor who played an iconic villain in 1979’s James Bond movie “Moonraker” and starred in 1973’s “The Day of the Jackal,” has died. The British-French actor was 89 at the time of his passing.

“I must unfortunately confirm the passing of Michael Lonsdale, our dear talent for so many years,” Lonsdale’s agent, Olivier Loiseau, said in a statement to TheWrap Monday.

In “Moonraker,” which starred Roger Moore as 007, Lonsdale had the role of bad guy Hugo Drax, an industrialist with plans to poison all of humanity and then repopulate Earth from his space station.

For “Day of the Jackal,” the British-French political thriller directed by Fred Zinnemann, Lonsdale played Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel, starring opposite Edward Fox as “the Jackal.” Lonsdale’s performance in the film earned him a supporting actor BAFTA nomination.

Though “Moonraker” and “The Day of the Jackal” are the parts American audiences probably best remember Lonsdale for,...

French actor Michael Lonsdale, who was known internationally for his roles as the villain Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film “Moonraker” and detective Claude Lebel in “The Day of the Jackal,” has died. He was 89.

Afp confirmed news of the actor’s death, via his agent, on Monday.

Lonsdale won France’s Cesar for best supporting actor in 2011 for his role in Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men.” His performance in “The Day of the Jackal” earned him a supporting actor BAFTA nomination.

Lonsdale was born to an English father and a French mother in Paris in 1931. He marked his acting debut in 1956 with “It Happened in Aden.” In a long and distinguished career, the actor amassed more than 200 credits, working with some of the greats of cinema.

More to come.

Michael Lonsdale, who starred as the mad villain Hugo Drax in the Bond film Moonraker and the dogged detective in the Fred Zinnemann-directed crime thriller The Day of the Jackal, has died. He was 89.

Lonsdale died Monday at his home in Paris, his agent, Olivier Loiseau, told the Afp.

Born in Paris, Lonsdale portrayed Louis XVI in Jefferson in Paris (1995) and appeared in other notable films including Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Name of the Rose (1986), James Ivory’s The Remains of the Day (1993), John Frankenheimer’s Ronin (1998) and Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005) during his busy six-decade career.

He also received a ...

Michael Lonsdale, who starred as the mad villain Hugo Drax in the Bond film Moonraker and the dogged detective in the Fred Zinnemann-directed crime thriller The Day of the Jackal, has died. He was 89.

Lonsdale died Monday at his home in Paris, his agent, Olivier Loiseau, told the Afp.

Born in Paris, Lonsdale portrayed Louis XVI in Jefferson in Paris (1995) and appeared in other notable films including Jean-Jacques Annaud’s The Name of the Rose (1986), James Ivory’s The Remains of the Day (1993), John Frankenheimer’s Ronin (1998) and Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005) during his busy six-decade career.

He also received a ...

” Je t’aime bien, mon enfant… plus que tu ne crois. I love you, my child… more than you believe. “

Cinema St. Louis’ 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival runs July 17-23, 2020. Individual tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with valid and current photo IDs. All-access passes are available for $25, $20 for Csl members. Ticket and Pass Purchase information can be found Here

The 12th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — presented by TV5MONDE, sponsored by the Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, and produced by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s extraordinary cinematic legacy.

Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, the fest will be presented virtually this year. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the Virtual Festival. Filmswill be available to view on demand anytime from July 17-23. Access to...

Jack Beresford Jan 7, 2020

We take a look at the movie sequels that attempted to up the ante by heading out of this world…

When it comes to the world of franchise moviemaking, space really is the final frontier. Boldly going where no previous entry has gone before represents an easy win for a studio looking to enliven a particular film property. The Fast and Furious franchise is the latest to be weighing up one giant leap for mankind with Chris Morgan, the writer of Hobbs & Shaw, open to taking Dominic Toretto et al into space.

"I would never shoot down space," Morgan told Entertainment Weekly. "Never, never. I would literally never shoot down anything, as long as it hits the parameters: 'Is it badass? is it awesome? Will the audience love it? And will it not break faith with the audience as they're watching it?' I'm down for whatever.

Here’s a highly suspenseful thriller with fine characterizations, set in a grim but meaningful place — Fascist Spain in the late 1950s, when Franco’s operatives still hold the country in a tight grip. The very modern story (by Emeric Pressburger) is also timeless: the old lost-cause warrior takes on one last mission into enemy territory. Gregory Peck (he’s good) is the legendary raider on a mission to kill an old enemy, Anthony Quinn.

Behold a Pale Horse

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1964 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date July 29, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95

Starring: Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Raymond Pellegrin, Paolo Stoppa, Mildred Dunnock, Daniela Rocca, Christian Marquand, Marietto Angeletti, Perrette Pradier, Zia Mohyeddin, Rosalie Crutchley, Michael Lonsdale, Martin Benson, Claude Berri, Albert Rémy, Alan Saury.

Cinematography: Jean Badal

Original Music: Maurice Chevalier

Written by J.P. Miller from a novel by Emeric Pressburger

Produced by Gregory...

With politics on our minds for Election Day, we've created this list of the best politically-motivated films. We promise they will cause less anxiety and be more fun than actual politics.

Although ultimately important, politics can lead to conflict and stress. Also, bureaucracy in action can be just plain boring. Thankfully, when Hollywood makes films about politics, they tend to be exciting, thought-provoking, and empowering. Full of juicy conspiracy theories, shedding light on real life events, and empowering the viewer to make a difference in the world around them, political thrillers are an important and entertaining sub-genre.

To help get your mind off of the turmoil that is election day, I put together this list of the best political thrillers. To be considered for this list, I tried to only consider films where the politics are the main motivation for the films’ plot. Here, I define politics as a struggle...

Day Of The Jackal will be available on Blu-ray September 25th from Arrow Video

In 1971, Frederick Forsyth shot to bestseller status with his debut novel, The Day of the Jackal taut, utterly plausible, almost documentarian in its realism and attention to detail. Two years later, director Fred Zinnemann (High Noon) turned a gripping novel into a nail-biting cinematic experience.

August 1962: the latest attempt on the life of French President Charles de Gaulle by the far right paramilitary organization, the Oas, ends in chaos, with its architect-in-chief dead at the hands of a firing squad. Demoralized and on the verge of bankruptcy, the Oas leaders meet in secret to plan their next move. In a last desperate attempt to eliminate de Gaulle, they opt to employ the services of a hired assassin from outside the fold. Enter the Jackal: charismatic, calculating, cold as ice. As the Jackal closes in on his target,...

We've enjoyed the globe-trotting and action-packed adventures of James Bond for well over fifty years at this point, during which time the franchise has introduced scores of memorable villains for 007 to go up against. From Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), who planned to irradiate all of the gold in Fort Knox, to Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), who schemed to kill off Earth's population and... Read More...

By Todd Garbarini

I’m a sucker for car chases. Not the perfunctory, last-minute “Hey, this movie needs a car chase!” variety, but the kind that comes as a result of a particular plot point wherein someone or some group has to get away from some other group. While most new car chases such as The Fast and the Furious sort are usually accomplished through CGI, I find that this sleight-of-hand fakery virtually abolishes all tension. The best ones that I have seen all did it for real through innovative and unprecedented filming techniques and excellent editing: Grand Prix (1966), Vanishing Point (1967), Bullitt (1968), The Seven-Ups (1973), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Road Warrior (1981), The Terminator (1984), F/X (1986), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), and The Town (2010) all have action sequences that put the full wonder of film editing on display.

There are two major car chases in the late John Frankenheimer’s Ronin, which opened on Friday,...

By Tim Greaves

The year is 1962. Aggrieved when Algeria is granted independence by President Charles de Gaulle, the militant underground alliance known as the Organisation Armée Secrète botches an attempt to assassinate him. Within months many of the conspirators, including their top man, have been captured and executed. The remaining Oas leaders, bereft of funds, take refuge in Austria and warily decide to contract an outside professional to do the job for them. They settle on a British assassin (Edward Fox), who chooses to be identified as Jackal. The Oas orchestrate several bank robberies to cover his exorbitant fee of half a million dollars whilst the mechanics of the plotting are left entirely to Jackal's discretion. After capturing and interrogating another alliance member, the French authorities learn of Jackal's existence and, suspecting another attempt on de Gaulle's life may be imminent, they set their best man – Deputy Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michel Lonsdale) – on his tail.

Robert De Niro picks up a gun once again as a highly paid spy-mercenary-thief hired for a bit of international larceny, the robbing of a courier of some undisclosed secrets of one kind or another. Juicing up a Melville- like stoic crime fantasy with superb car stunt work puts director John Frankenheimer back in the game, with a worthy project.

Ronin

Blu-ray

Arrow Video USA

1998 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date August 29, 2017 / Available from Arrow Video 39.95

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgard, Skipp Sudduth, Michael Lonsdale, Jan Triska, Jonathan Pryce.

Cinematography: Robert Fraisse

Film Editor: Tony Gibbs

Original Music: Elia Cmiral

Written by J.D. Zeik, David Mamet (as Richard Weisz)

Produced by Frank Mancuso Jr.

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Ronin is something of a last gasp for the Mancuso-era United Artists (MGM), a lavishly appointed all-on-location major action picture directed by a great...

Barbara Sukowa stars in Margarethe von Trotta's Hannah Arendt, shot by Caroline Champetier Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The French Institute Alliance Française in New York is set to honour Caroline Champetier this fall with a CinéSalon eight film retrospective, curated by Delphine Selles-Alvarez and the famed cinematographer herself.

Caroline Champetier: Shaping The Light kicks off on September 19 with Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods And Men (Des Hommes Et Des Dieux), starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale. Other highlights include Arnaud Desplechin's La Sentinelle (Emmanuel Salinger, Thibault de Montalembert, Jean-Louis Richard); Chantal Akerman's Toute Une nuit (Aurore Clément, Natalia Akerman, Paul Allio); Jean-Luc Godard's Grandeur Et Décadence D'Un Petit Commerce De Cinéma with Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marie Valera, Jean-Pierre Mocky and Caroline Champetier.

Holy Motors director Leos Carax Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Following screenings of Anne Fontaine's The Innocents (Les Innocentes) and Leos Carax's Holy Motors, Caroline Champetier...

Géza Röhrig stars with Matthew Broderick in Shawn Snyder's To Dust Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Alessandro Nivola and Emily Mortimer have teamed up to produce Shawn Snyder's To Dust, starring Géza Röhrig (Saul in the Oscar-winning Son Of Saul, directed by László Nemes) and Matthew Broderick with cinematography by Xavi Giménez (Brad Anderson's The Machinist starring Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Alejandro Amenábar's Agora with Rachel Weisz, Oscar Isaac, Max Minghella, Michael Lonsdale). Alessandro updated me from South Africa where he is starring with Chris Evans, Haley Bennett, and (Sir) Ben Kingsley in Gideon Raff's The Red Sea Diving Resort.

To Dust co-producer Alessandro Nivola Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

When I spoke with Alessandro last year on his role in Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon, before the film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, he mentioned a top secret project that he...

One of the best international thrillers ever has almost become an obscurity, for reasons unknown – this Blu-ray comes from Australia. Edward Fox’s wily assassin for hire goes up against the combined police and security establishments of three nations as he sets up the killing of a head of state – France’s president Charles de Gaulle. The terrific cast features Michel Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig and Cyril Cusack; director Fred Zinnemann’s excellent direction reaches a high pitch of tension – even though the outcome is known from the start.

The Day of the Jackal

Region B+A Blu-ray

Shock Entertainment / Universal

1973 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date ? / Available from Amazon UK / Pounds 19.99

Starring: Edward Fox, Michel Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig, Cyril Cusack, Eric Porter, Tony Britton, Alan Badel, Michel Auclair, Tony Britton, Maurice Denham, Vernon Dobtcheff, Olga Georges-Picot, Timothy West, Derek Jacobi, Jean Martin, Ronald Pickup, Jean Sorel, Philippe Léotard, Jean Champion,...

Mubi's retrospective, Catherine Breillat, Auteur of Porn?, is showing April 4 - June 3, 2017 in Germany.Sex Is ComedyThroughout her career, Catherine Breillat has provided viewers with a long-form meta-cinema experience. While metacinema is as old as the medium itself, since her debut feature A Real Young Girl in 1976, Breillat has developed a distinct form of it: one that collapses ‘autobiographical’ material, various artistic sensibilities, and the process of filmmaking itself.Like dozens of other English words—such as ‘aesthetic’ or ‘abject’—the word ‘meta’ has been largely misused or misapplied with regard to the film and literary criticism. Regarding the consumption of fiction, the appropriate use of the term 'metafiction,' 'metafilm,' et cetera, has its basis in the Greek meta, which does not translate directly into English but can be understood as a preposition similar to the English word ‘about’ (‘having to do with,’ or ‘on the subject of’). Metafiction is therefore,...

Only one person at a time will get to see Loris Gréaud's Sculpt, a sci-fi featuring Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Lonsdale, Pascal Greggory, Abel Ferrara and a soundtrack by The Residents. Tickets to screenings beginning today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are free of charge, too, most likely making them even harder to come by. "Gréaud is making four versions of Sculpt, each similar in narrative arc but different in pacing, script and sequence of events," notes Alex Moshakis in the Guardian. If and when there are reviews, we'll be adding them to this collection of previews. » - David Hudson...

Only one person at a time will get to see Loris Gréaud's Sculpt, a sci-fi featuring Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Lonsdale, Pascal Greggory, Abel Ferrara and a soundtrack by The Residents. Tickets to screenings beginning today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are free of charge, too, most likely making them even harder to come by. "Gréaud is making four versions of Sculpt, each similar in narrative arc but different in pacing, script and sequence of events," notes Alex Moshakis in the Guardian. If and when there are reviews, we'll be adding them to this collection of previews. » - David Hudson...

Mubi is showing Jacques Rivette's Out 1: noli me tangere (1971) in four parts in the UK and most other parts of the world, beginning April 25, 2016.“How strange, it’s like being in a cloak and dagger story.”—Frédérique, Out 1“Is this a game?”“It’s lots of things.”—Sarah and Thomas, Out 1The word is casual. The world, too. In Jacques Rivette’s seminally bizarre, alluringly demanding twelve-hour-plus opus Out 1 (1971), listless Parisians float into one another’s lives as if they live in an incestuously tiny village. They come, they go, they never quite collide. They drift: their stories, if they can be called that, don’t so much intertwine with dramatic intricacy as overlap prettily like translucent jellyfish. Outward, inward, engines in decline. Eventually, of course, drifting accumulates its own tensions, acquires its own charms. Little things begin to matter, take on revelatory qualities. Hopes for a bigger...

The Eighth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-produced by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema.

The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations, and we’re especially pleased to present Jacques Rivette’s long-unavailable epic Out 1: Spectre Additional restoration highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s A Married Woman and Max Ophüls’ too-little-seen From Mayerling To Sarajevo. Both Ophüls’ film and Louis Malle’s Elevator To The Gallows – with a jazz score by St. Louis-area native Miles Davis — screen from 35mm prints. All films will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (47- E. Lockwood)

Music fans will further delight in the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra’s accompaniment and original score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s...

Bouli Lanners and friend in Les Premiers, les Derniers which opens Premiers Plans Festival in Angers tonight (22 January) Photo: Kris Dewitte

The fourth feature by Bouli Lanners, the Belgian director, writer, and actor, opens the 28th Premiers Plans Festival tonight (22 January) in Angers with an out of competition slot but in the presence of Lanners and one of his co-stars Michael Lonsdale, a Bond baddie from Moonraker days.

The festival in the Loire valley, devoted to first films from all over Europe and including both features and shorts as well as script-writing workshops, will have its opening soirée supported by the Fondation Gan for Cinema whose funds are used to support scripts and projects by new talents. The guests of honour include Phlippe Delerive, president of the Fondation, Dominique Hoff, its managing director, Jérome Clément, the event’s president and Claude-Eric Poiroux, the artistic director.

Premiers Plans Festival poster

Lanners’ fourth feature film,...

Winter is the perfect time for staying in and truly investing in lengthy cinematic narratives, and few demand (and reward) the attention than Jacques Rivette's "Out 1." The holy grail of French cinema has long been unavailable or kicking around in less than ideal releases, but Kino Lorber and Carlotta Films are finally bringing the movie stateside in a massive DVD/Blu-ray box set (complete with substantial extras), and we want to give one to a lucky Playlist reader. Read More: Review: Jaques Rivette's Newly Restored Masterpiece 'Out 1' Starring Bernadette Lafont, Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Leaud, and Michael Lonsdale, the twelve-hour epic follows two theater groups as they prepare to perform avant-garde adaptations of plays by Aeschylus. Here's the synopsis:  Paris, April 13th 1970. Two theater groups each rehearse avant-garde adaptations of plays by Aeschylus. A young deaf-mute begs for change in cafés while playing the harmonica. A young woman seduces men.

It is no secret that Roger Moore holds the record as the actor who played James Bond the most, his tally an impressing 7. There are a bevy of reasons why this was the case, the most obvious being that each one of his films were massive financial successes, the only bump in the road being his second outing, The Man With the Golden Gun, which itself speaks to the immense stature of the franchise when the film that earns 97 million dollars is the ‘bump in the road.’ There was a shift in tone that permeated in the Bond films once Roger Moore took over the mantle from Sean Connery. Whereas the latter brought toughness and grittiness to his interpretation of the famous super spy all the while proving to be as smooth as butter, the former injected some light comedic flair. It was definitely still James Bond on the screen,...

If there’s any truth to the old chestnut that great works of art teach you how to experience them, few films exemplify it quite so fully as Jacques Rivette‘s Out 1. Then again, when so few films akin to Out 1 in the first place, comparisons will only go so far before discourse hits a wall. Or so I, in the two weeks since seeing it, have been inclined to think of a conspiracy-filled, paranoia-fueled, melancholy-drenched 13-hour movie that’s no less indebted to Fritz Lang and classic melodrama than Aeschylus and Balzac. If this weren’t a particularly good film, its restoration and subsequent theatrical release, which begins at New York’s BAMcinématek this evening, would still be something to celebrate — mostly as a signal that people with a power to save rare films are placing their resources where it counts. But given what is, to my mind, the...

Jacques Rivette's Out 1, noli me tangere (1971), featuring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Michael Lonsdale, Michèle Moretti, Bulle Ogier, Bernadette Lafont and Bernadette Onfroy as well as Eric Rohmer and Barbet Schroeder, has seen one-off screenings at festivals and retrospectives over the past 40-plus years, but never a proper theatrical release—until now. Starting today, a new restoration from Carlotta Films Us begins its rollout at Bam in New York before heading to Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. For starters. Releases on DVD and Blu-ray will follow—in the Us from Kino Lorber. We're gathering reviews, interviews, the trailer and more. » - David Hudson...

Jacques Rivette's Out 1, noli me tangere (1971), featuring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Juliet Berto, Michael Lonsdale, Michèle Moretti, Bulle Ogier, Bernadette Lafont and Bernadette Onfroy as well as Eric Rohmer and Barbet Schroeder, has seen one-off screenings at festivals and retrospectives over the past 40-plus years, but never a proper theatrical release—until now. Starting today, a new restoration from Carlotta Films Us begins its rollout at Bam in New York before heading to Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. For starters. Releases on DVD and Blu-ray will follow—in the Us from Kino Lorber. We're gathering reviews, interviews, the trailer and more. » - David Hudson...

Moonraker

Directed by Lewis Gilbert

Screenplay by Christopher Wood

UK, 1979

Moonraker has the unique distinction of being the most absurd and over-the-top Bond film produced in 50 years of the series. Spy films exist in a genre unto themselves, but the Bond films sometimes like to crossover into other popular genres as well. The first clear example of this was 1973’s Live and Let Die, which mimicked the then popular Blaxploitation genre. When Moonraker was released however, the Bond series took this genre crossover to its extreme, resulting in a Bond film as much a science fiction saga as it is screwball comedy. Certainly one of the strangest Bond films to date, Moonraker holds a unique admiration among Bond fans and remained the highest grossing of all the Bond films until the release of Goldeneye in 1995.

Before Moonraker came 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me which concluded with the end credit...