Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 11, 2010

Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki, 2004) Not being a fan of mangas at the first place didn't tend me to discover the work of Asian animation. Having only seen Hayao Miyazaki's Alice in Wonderland inspired Spirited Away in the context of my journey through the 1000 Greatest Films of They...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 10, 2010

Prénom Carmen (Jean-Luc Godard, 1983) Personnally adapted from the opera Carmen, Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen) tells the story of a young woman, Carmen (Maruschka Detmers), who participate in many robberies with a group that ressembles of a group of rebels or mercenaries. When in an assault   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 9, 2010

Suddenly (Lewis Allen, 1954) Film noir is one of my favorite genre, some will say it's not even a genre because their creators were not aware of making them at the time. They were making thriller/cop/betrayal and mostly B-Movies. Suddenly directed by Lewis Allen with Frank Sinatra and Sterling H   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 8, 2010

High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1963) An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. What characterizes the best a Kurosawa film is the strength of the feelings he exploits from his plots. In his most famous, Seven...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 6, 2010

Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Jean-Luc Godard, 1980) Since a month or so I've been discovering the films of Jean-Luc Godard. I have known his most notable work since ten years or so. Like many I watched À bout de souffle as an introduction to his work, after I've seen...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 5, 2010

Pi (Darren Aronofsky, 1998) Widely inspired by David Lynch's first feature/masterpiece, Eraserhead, Darren Aronofsky's Pi is a multi-layered black and white nightmare. After having been blast away by his The Wrestler, stunned by his Requiem For A Dream I don't know how to handle Pi. I may be need   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on October 4, 2010

Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970) From the era that brought us Easy Rider until Raging Bull aka The Second Golden Age of Hollywood/American Cinema. The 1970's were a time where new American directors like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Hal Ashby, Terrence Malick and   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 30, 2010

On September 28 I was invited to the first edition of the Design Urbain Video Fest in Quebec City. The six shorts presented were the work of future Urban designers of The Laval University. Their task was to explore the intensity of the city. The result: six unique films made...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 27, 2010

West Side Story (Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise, 1961) Winner of 10 Oscars, this adaptation of a Broadway musical could have been a complete disaster considering the latest screen adaptations of Broadway musicals like Rent. West Side Story has been a success on the stage and   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 25, 2010

TSPDT Greatest Films #679 Le rayon vert (Eric Rohmer, 1986) The death of Eric Rohmer in early 2010 made me realize that I don't know anything about him and/or having see any of his films. The day after his death I saw Ma nuit chez Maud that I completely adored....   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 23, 2010

Tout va bien (Jean-Luc Godard & Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1972) May 68 has been a real clash in France. The left has rise and took so much power that the biggest enterprises were affraid of dealing with the unions of workers. The "revolution" it brought has had many levels of effects...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 22, 2010

The American (Anton Corbijn, 2010)With a title like that and a poster like this one would expect a traditionnal yet entertaining piece of action flick full of testoterone and fueled with explosions and car chases. Well, one shouldn't be more surprised! Yes it is a story about guns but not...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 21, 2010

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)I finally got to see the film of this Summer and as many said and/or wrote the film of the year; Inception. When a movie has such praise and buzz about it always makes me want and or not want to see it. For example, Titanic and...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 21, 2010

Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010)Notary Jean Lebel (Rémy Girard) has to read the testament of his late secretary, Nawal Marwan (Lubna Azabal), to her twins. In the reading they have unusual requests from their mother and two letters. One is for their father whom they thought was deceased and anothe   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 18, 2010

Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)I must admit that when I first saw Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (I discover the director with that film) I cinematically felt in love. This off-beat, bittersweet, wrong and weird juvenile tale of love, family, lost and recover touched me very deeply even if it's   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 16, 2010

Vivre sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)The Karina-Godard couple has been publicised a lot at this time and the buzz around the Nouvelle Vague was still echoing in 1963. Their relationship was very hazardous and they loved/hated each other so much it made their collaborations tough to deal but always pu   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 14, 2010

Le petit soldat (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963) In this crazy but passionate attempt to watch the entire films of Jean-Luc Godard I decided to not pass over any of his films. Even the ones consider of second order, or as in french we say it "films de moindre importance". Well, Le...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 12, 2010

TSPDT Greatest Films #252 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) A Godard film is as always a film that makes people think and talk about it. For 2 ou 3... it's this pattern that I can use to present the film. Well, it's an uncommon...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 9, 2010

Masculin féminin (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966) Jean-Luc Godard's oeuvre is filled with so many films all made with so many subjects and approaches that he can be compared to the Picasso of filmmaking. With À bout de souflle he made cubism Cinema with the jump cuts he dared to insert in...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on September 8, 2010

The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946) Telling the story of three American War heroes of the second World War coming home; a sergeant/banker, a captain/soda bar clerk, and a sailor who lost his two hands while serving. Presented like that this nearly 3 hour long film seems...   read more