Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 8, 2013

Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them. Just like Quentin Tarantino’s films, Wes Anderson’s cinema and universe is one that connects with me in a way that few other filmmak   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 7, 2013

The Vow (Michael Sucsy, 2012) A car accident puts Paige in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo works to win her heart again. Inspired by true events, The Vow is a film starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams representing a couple madly...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 4, 2013

The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012) Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to compete. Just before watching this adaptation of Suzanne   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 4, 2013

The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012) Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. With The Avengers, the last chapter of the Dark Knight trilogy was one of the most expected...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 3, 2013

For those who have been here a while you sure all know that I’ve been obsessively rambling about a particular list of films I’m targeting to complete. Since this list evolves from year to year, around January of each year the fine folks at They Shoot Pictures Don’t They? update...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on January 2, 2013

Continuing on the ever going quest of watching the 1000 Greatest Films of They Shoot Pictures. Here's another slice of directors categorized by the late Andrew Sarris. Robert Aldrich (1): Kiss Me Deadly (1957) Frank Borzage (1): Seventh Heaven (1927) Frank Capra (4): The Bitter Tea of General Ye   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 22, 2012

Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. First off, my relationship with Quentin Tarantino's films began when I was around twelve and I watched Pulp Fiction. It wa   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 21, 2012

Last night I was lucky enough to be at the Premiere of Django Unchained in Quebec City, and my friends and readers I was excited! This is a little teaser on my impressions prior to my writing of a proper review of this one heck of a film. First, let's...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 17, 2012

Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (Patrick McGilligan, 2003) Of the hundreds of books, biographies, analysis, essays about the most respected and famous film director of all time Patrick McGilligan’s biography might be the most complete and essential to the Hitchcock enthusiast   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 14, 2012

Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles (David Thomson, 1997) This biography of Orson Welles is an admirer’s look upon a career of failures, fakeries, lies, and some of the most important films in History. David Thomson is clearly a Welles enthusiast and even if his tone is sometimes forgiving   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 13, 2012

Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012) A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money. Director Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement from directing a little while ago but he seems to be working even harder than before since then. With three fil   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 12, 2012

Ali : Fear Eats the Soul aka Angst essen Seele auf (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974) Emmi, a woman truly in the second half of life, falls in love with Ali, a Berber guest worker more than ten years younger. When they both decide to marry, everybody seems to be against...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 11, 2012

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997) This film documents the effects of a tragic bus accident on the population of a small town. The Egyptian born director, now Canadian, Atom Egoyan divided film critics and cinephiles in two camps: two who loved his films and those who admire them but...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 10, 2012

The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, 1976) A Missouri farmer joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family. When one starts to gaze Westerns he’ll be headed towards the Sergio Leone Man With No name trilogy. They defined Cli   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 7, 2012

The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982) A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling. About ten years ago, or so, I saw Dog Day Afternoon Sidney Lumet’s near masterpiece that stars a young and once brillia   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 6, 2012

All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955) An upper-class widow falls in love with a much younger, down-to-earth nurseryman, much to the disapproval of her children and criticism of her country club peers. Melodrama, Technicolor, the 1950’s. Douglas Sirk! The formula is there and couldn   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 5, 2012

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960) A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue. The appreciation of a movie can change from a person to another, from a director like Billy Wilder who...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 4, 2012

Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. Being born in the 1980’s makes me a kid of the John...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 2, 2012

It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. The great American classic of Christmas movies that is It’s a Wonderful Life is like the Casablanca of hol   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on December 1, 2012

Since I put my hand on Andrew Sarris’ The American Cinema : Directors and Directions 1929-1968, my interest for completing a list I’ve been rambling about over and over here at the good old LMdC (short for Le Mot du Cinephiliaque), is TheyShoot Pictures Don’t They? 1000 Greatest Fi   read more