News

In today's roundup of news and views: Revisiting Luc Moullet’s Une Aventure de Billy le Kid and René Clément’s Forbidden Games, interviews with Jonas Mekas and George Armitage, another new book on Orson Welles, ranking 52 films by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou as a video game, Andy Warhol's Screen Tests in Time Square, a Bertrand Bonello retrospective, remembering René Féret, photographs by Wim Wenders and an outstanding cast for Xavier Dolan's next film: Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel. » - David Hudson...

In today's roundup of news and views: Revisiting Luc Moullet’s Une Aventure de Billy le Kid and René Clément’s Forbidden Games, interviews with Jonas Mekas and George Armitage, another new book on Orson Welles, ranking 52 films by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou as a video game, Andy Warhol's Screen Tests in Time Square, a Bertrand Bonello retrospective, remembering René Féret, photographs by Wim Wenders and an outstanding cast for Xavier Dolan's next film: Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel. » - David Hudson...

The number of films dealing with age is rising as older people take up more of the cinema-going audience

The world's population is ageing. Today, there are about 600 million older people around the world, three times more than 50 years ago – and by 2050 there should be three times more again. The effect of that is already apparent in almost every sector, including culture, which of course includes the cinema. In the early 20th century, the brand-new film industry symbolised glamour and eternal youth before being relegated to a largely teenage audience, and then being caught up by age in the following century: the age of its audience, its creators, its characters and its subject matter.

The cinema has always found ways of dealing with the subject. For many years it simply skirted the issue in two ways. One was by using farce, with truculent old rogues, as in Frank Capra's...

★★☆☆☆ With the title Mozart's Sister (2010), audiences could be forgiven for thinking that they are in for a historical biopic about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's life through the eyes of his sister. Instead, René Féret's problematic and historically questionable feature is a feminist examination of the difficulties of being a woman in the patriarchal society of 18th century Europe.

Read more »...

The Cabin In The Woods (15)

(Drew Goddard, 2011, Us) Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz. 95 mins

It's clear from the outset this Jj Abrams-produced genre offering isn't your standard slasher movie, as a traditional teen country break set-up is monitored by wisecracking officials in some mysterious bunker. But exactly what the twist is, it's better to discover for yourself. Let's just say it gives the horror formula an exhilarating jolt without destroying it, in a Lost-meets-Scooby-Doo sort of way – a meta-mystery tour signposted with spoiler alerts.

Battleship (12A)

(Peter Berg, 2012, Us) Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna. 131 mins

After the triumph of Transformers, Hasbro spin off another of their products, resulting in an effects-driven alien invasion that looks a lot like, er, Transformers. Expect Michael Bay-scale destruction, lots of CG explosions and military heroism, with extra cheese.

A Night To Remember (PG)

(Roy Ward Baker,...

This revisionist account of Mozart's early life reclaims one of history's lost women. If only the film weren't so turgid

René Féret's earnest and ponderously acted movie is partly a feminist reclaiming of one of history's lost women, and also a revisionist, speculative account of Mozart's early life that is not so far away from Milos Forman's Amadeus. It has a seriousness that commands attention, and a very believable sense of the hardship and bitterness Mozart Sr put his family through. It is a good subject. If only this film weren't so turgid, and didn't have that strained quality in the sound recording that picks up every extraneous costume-rustle and makes the background silence in every scene seem like a continuous hiss.

Marc Barbé and Delphine Chuillot are Léopold and Anna-Maria Mozart, parents who are putting their children through a gruelling and continuous continental tour. Their remarkable 10-year-old,...

★★☆☆☆ Directed by French filmmaker René Féret, edited by his wife Fabienne and starring two of his own daughters in central roles, 2010 period drama/biopic Mozart's Daughter is very much a family affair in every sense. The film documents the young life of Maria Anna Mozart (Marie Féret) - nicknamed Nannerl by those closest to her - the elder sister of the renowned German composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and purposes to reveal the hidden life of this shy, tragically overlooked musical talent.

Read more »...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 14, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $38.95

Studio: Music Box

Marie Féret is Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart in Mozart’s Sister.

Marie Féret portrays Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart, the older sibling of you-know-who, in the 2010 music-filled French drama film Mozart’s Sister.

In 18th century Europe, “Nannerl” Mozart, an accomplished singer, harpsichordist and violinist, is first held forth as her family’s infant prodigy and its featured performer. That is, of course, until her five-years-young brother Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (David Moreau) begins to take center stage.

As their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours them in front of the royal courts of pre-French revolution Europe, Nannerl approaches marriageable age. Nannerl’s father bows to social strictures “for her own good” and forbids her to continue with the violin or composition, while privately conceding her talent to his wife. Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed by her gender,...

Vera Farmiga's Higher Ground "admirably tries, on a minuscule budget, to evoke the spirit of American cinema from 35 years ago: the age of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall, an era much more hospitable to serious roles for women than the current one." Melissa Anderson in the Voice: "As reported in a New York Times Magazine cover story on the actress in 2006 (three years before her Oscar-nominated performance in Up in the Air), Farmiga has expressed her disgust with the roles offered her by setting scripts on fire: 'I stack up all those crass female characters, all those utterly ordinary women, all those hundreds and hundreds of parts that have no substance or meaning and turn them into a blazing pyre.' It's a shame, then, that Higher Ground never really ignites."

Farmiga plays "Corinne, a Midwest rural woman who embraces a hippie-inflected but paternalistic evangelical community with her high...

Music Box Films

The 18th century was not a good time to be born with two X chromosomes. Although she proved to be a gifted singer, composer and harpsichordist in her own right, none of that mattered for Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart. Or so René Féret’s newest film, “Mozart’s Sister,” reveals.

A work of fiction, the film was shot on location at Versailles and delves into the life of the Mozart’s as they traveled around Europe showcasing their two child prodigies.

It’s hard to watch René Féret’s historical drama Mozart’s Sister without thinking of the Oscar-winning 1984 biopic Amadeus, which uses Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a springboard to consider the sad case of those who can recognize genius, but can’t replicate it. Mozart’s Sister, meanwhile, uses the composer’s life as a springboard to study the lot of European women in the 18th century. As a girl, Maria Anna Mozart performed for royalty alongside her younger brother and even composed her own music, just like Wolfgang. But as Maria—nicknamed “Nannerl”—grew into adolescence ...

On August 19, Music Box Films will release the René Féret drama Mozart's Sister and we have a clip from the French film. Mozart's Sister is a re-imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart (played by Marie Féret, the director's daughter), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right. Originally the featured performer, Nannerl has given way to Wolfgang as the main attraction, as their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours his talented offspring in front of the royal courts of pre-French revolution Europe. Approaching marriageable age and now forbidden to play the violin or compose, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed on her gender. But a friendship with the son and daughter of Louis Xv...

Nothing is more exquisite than a period piece film - especially one such as Mozart’S Sister opening in Los Angeles, Orange County and New York on August 19. The film will show in St. Louis beginning on September 30 at the Plaza Frontenac.

Synopsis:

Written, directed and produced by René Féret, Mozart.S Sister is a re-imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna .Nannerl. Mozart (played by Marie Féret, the director.s daughter), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right. Originally the featured performer, Nannerl has given way to Wolfgang as the main attraction, as their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours his talented offspring in front of the royal courts of pre-French revolution Europe. Approaching marriageable age and now forbidden to play the violin or compose, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed on her gender. But a friendship...

When Milos Forman's "Amadeus" was released in 1984, a fictionalized look at Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it quickly became revered by cognoscenti as the most exciting film ever to depict the life and work of a European composer. "Amadeus" had everything-costumes, a full range of Mozart's actual compositions, a humor-filled, sometimes melodramatic biopic situated in the world of Austrian nobility. Wolfgang's sister, nicknamed Nannerl or Nana, was barely mentioned. Now, René Féret fills in the blanks in our knowledge by a likewise fictionalized look, this time at a woman on the cusp of adulthood at the age of fourteen. Perhaps it's setting the bar too high to expect "Mozart's Sister" to compare qualitatively or quantitatively to the higher-budgeted "Amadeus," but having seen Forman's masterpiece, one cannot help judging Féret's writing, directing, and producing a film about an Eighteenth Century family of musical prodigies as wanting. Perhaps we'd be fairer to...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Shaolin Trailer Even directors like Benny Chan deserve a break. Seeing how Jackie Chan's Who Am I? and Robin-b-Hood had about as much punch...

Music Box Films A scene from “Mozart’s Sister”

Although Wolfgang Mozart is heralded as a prodigy, “Mozart’s Sister” places Nannerl, his older sister front and center. A singer, harpsichordist and violinist in her own right, Nannerl was five years Wolfgang’s elder. The film is set in 1763 France and tells the story of the 15-year-old girls dream of composing.

Originally titled “Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart,” the film is written and directed by René Féret and stars his daughter Marie Féret as Nannerl.

The 46th Chicago International Film Festival is coming, and The Scorecard Review will be there will exclusive interviews, movie reviews and red carpet events beginning October 7, 2010.

Here’s the first 20 films announced for the festival. Below is the news release.

October 7 – 21, 2010

Chicago, August 25, 2010 – Cinema/Chicago is proud to announce the first 20 new films that will appear at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival. Among them are some of the most anticipated domestic and foreign films featuring well-respected talent and directors as well as the work of exceptional newcomers. From Slumdog Millionaire and Resevoir Dogs to Martin Scorsese and Werner Herzog, The Chicago International Film Festival has consistently brought the brightest and boldest new films and filmmakers to Chicago first. Audiences will be delighted to find that this year’s Festival will be no different. Below is just a taste of the more than 150 films that will be shown at...

Chicago – Cinema/Chicago is proud to announce the first 20 new films scheduled to appear at the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival, October 7th – 21st. The Chicago festival continues to combine the films of established directors/talent with promising newcomers. Expect some foreign and domestic film surprises.

Screenings will take place at the AMC River East Theater in downtown Chicago during the October festival run. Festival passes are on sale now and individual tickets go on sale September 24th.

Gemma Arterton in ‘Tamara Drewe’

Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Classic

Here are the first 20 films slated for the Chicago International Film Festival in the announcement made on August 25th.

UK – ‘Tamara Drewe’

Director: Stephen Frears

When former ugly duckling Tamara Drewe sashays back into her hometown, life for her neighbors is thrown upside down. Now a devastating beauty, Tamara sets a contemporary comedy of manners into play using the oldest magic in the book: sex appeal.