26 May 2017. Neptune reports from Cannes The Cannes Film Festival is a universe unto itself. When you are here in mid-May and accredited (an absolute necessity for entering the massive “bunker” – whether press or industry), you are in a hermetic bubble pertaining to the film world. Nothing exists outside this obsession with all […]
FILM: King Arthur – Legend of the sword. Told by Guy Ritchie
19 May 2017. KING ARTHUR – LEGEND OF THE SWORD **1/2 To enjoy this latest Guy Ritchie extravaganza on the ancient myth of King Arthur, you have to appreciate Ritchie’s style of filmmaking – fast, furious and flippant dialogue, speedy editing and innovative storytelling – like his early “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” or […]
FILM: Marie Curie – the private life of a woman who fought hard to fit into a man’s world
5 May 2017. MARIE CURIE et la LUMIÈRE BLEUE ***1/2 (vo French) Most of us know Marie Curie as the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics (in 1903), along with her husband Pierre, for their research in radium. But we know little about her private sphere and the scandal of her later […]
FILM: Guardians of the Galaxy, vol 2 – a super fun popcorn flick
28 April 2017. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, Vol 2 ***1/2 If you’re looking for a super fun popcorn flick, this is it! Those crazy space characters from Marvel comics are back again to amuse us while saving the Galaxy one more time, in this instant cult film. There’s of course the main man, Peter Quill, alias […]
FILM: Visions du Réel – film festival in Nyon – April 21 -29
The Geneva and Suisse Romande area is a goldmine for cinema lovers – films from all over the world, often in original versions (vo) and in easy-to-reach locations. Just a bit pricey – but this is Switzerland. There are the multiple film festivals all around the year. The Oriental one just ended, now get ready […]
FILM: Gold – human perseverance, greed and folly
21 April 2017. GOLD *** Yet another true story. There have been so many of them lately – one better than the next, for they truly happened, which makes them that much more compelling. Matthew McConaughey has become an aficionado of these biopics – losing and gaining an extraordinary amount of weight depending on the role. […]
A walk in the park with the man behind a film festival spanning 5 continents
This week Renu Chahil-Graf takes A Walk in the Park with Hervé Gransart, Director, Cinema of 5 Continents Festival. Only someone with very broad shoulders would take on a film festival covering five continents! This someone is Hervé Gransart, director of a festival now in its 12th year. This year it runs from 17 to […]
FILM: Backstage documentary on the Opéra de Paris
14 April 2017. L’OPÉRA (The Paris Opera) **** (vo French) How is it to run an opera house, especially one as prestigious as the Opéra de Paris? In fact it is two opera houses: the grand old Garnier and the modern Bastille. With 1600 employees and a budget of more than €200 million, it does not […]
FILM: A United Kingdom – an African king marries a white British woman
31 March 2017. A UNITED KINGDOM *** How does one rate and describe a film that is not very well written, is overly sentimentalized, yet is a pleasing, touching film that should be seen? Seen for its intriguing, true historic story, and for its main star, David Oyelowo, the brilliant Nigerian/English actor who recently portrayed Martin […]
FILM: I am not your negro – incredibly moving and must be seen
24 March 2017. I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO **** Here is a searing, damning document on the black people’s condition in American history. The last work of the infinitely intelligent and eloquent writer and social critic James Baldwin (1924-1987) is narrated here by Samuel L. Jackson in this powerful documentary by Haitian director Raoul Peck. Baldwin’s […]
