French movie The Artist is the leading contender (with ‘Hugo’) in this year’s Oscar nominations and we are very proud it is.

Back in November we mentioned in Hollywood’s Golden Age is back with The Artist that the film had become the frontrunner to win Best Picture at the 2012 Oscars, and there is a really good chance it will win!

But let’s not put the cart before the horse here, other Oscar competition for best picture includes:

“The Descendants,” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Scott Rudin, producer
“The Help,” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, producers
“Hugo,” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, producers
“Midnight in Paris,” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, producers
“Moneyball,” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, producers
“The Tree of Life,” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse,” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, producers

Needless to say The Artist will be competing hard with all these great movies…

Bonne chance les amis !  

Nobody would have thought Intouchables (Untouchable), the French film directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano would become a blockbuster. The plot of the film, a caustic comedy, is inspired by the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo: after a paragliding accident that left him paralyzed, Philippe (François Cluzet) hires Driss (Omar Sy) to help him.

 The Guardian published an article about the movie:

Intouchables – or the Untouchables – has confounded French critics who dreaded the possibility of a cliche-ridden, ham-fisted take on the poor suburban “banlieue”, race and disability. Instead, the film has been hailed as a masterpiece, and the comedy of the year. It sold 2m tickets in under a week. Paris crowds are queueing around the block and pre-booking tickets. It is set to open in 40 countries, including the United States in March, where Harvey Weinstein has bought an option for an American remake.

You read well: Harvey Weinstein has bought an option for an American remake. As of 25 November 2011, after 4 weeks, “Intouchables” has already become the film the most seen in France in 2011.

If you didn’t see it already, go get your ticket right away.

A few days ago, Max Dana posted about French movie ‘The Artist’. This silent movie in black and white is very good, and it is not because it’s a French movie; it is because the story is great and because Jean Dujardin is exceptional.

Max showed a keen interest for the film from the outset and we are big fans of the movie as well so we will post about the film again and support it as much as we can!

“  I love Hollywood’s Golden Age, I have wrote several times about this magic era: Scarface: first and second impact, Davis, Flynn, Dietrich… They did it their way, About the Warner Bros and the Roosevelt Administration and I even shared with you: A few pages of my movie script / book, for your eyes only!.

The silent movies, the rise of talkies, the life in Hollywoodland… Hollywood’s Golden Age, from the late 1920′s to the mid-1930′s is my favorite movie decade. So when I heard about the movie director Michel Hazanavicius was about to make, needless to say I was very excited about it.

The Artist, shot at the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, takes place between 1927 and 1932 in Hollywood: as silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller (Bérénice Béjo), a young dancer set for a big break.

The film features an impressive cast of American actors: John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell. Jean Dujardin won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor Award for his performance and I have heard the film has become the frontrunner to win Best Picture at the 2012 Oscars.

That’s a fantastic news for The Artist and all the crew. The film was released in the United States on 25 November 2011 and I wish them all the best. I am so proud a French director could make this kind of movie, it is like Hollywood’s Golden Age was there again, for a few minutes…

Amazing movie, excellent story, wonderful actors, a great director and a bold producer, Thomas Langmann; nothing is going to stop The Artist now!

Do you watch Doctor Who, the TV show? If you do then you will be delighted to know that you can buy the exact replica of the Gallifreyan multipurpose tool used by The Doctor himself!

Here is the ThinkGeek description:

This collector’s item is an exact replica of the Gallifreyan multipurpose tool used by The Doctor himself. He’s had many sonic screwdrivers throughout his life and they’ve all been a little different. This particular model is a bit larger than the old one and has a bright green light. Our replica has spring loading extending action and two ways to make timey-wimey noises. While the screwdriver is closed, just press the button on the side to activate the LED and sound effects. Flip open the cap on the end to reveal an additional button that will activate the light and sound effects when the screwdriver is extended and open.

Unfortunately, the Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver of the 11th Doctor is out of stock right now. But you can find other Doctor Who stuff on the website: Doctor Who Adipose Plush, Doctor Who Cell Phone Alert Charms, I [Heart Heart] Doctor Who T-shirt, Doctor Who Save the Universe Board Game…

We will definitely order the Doctor Who Dalek Projection Clock!

Whether you are into movies or not, the Cannes film festival is a huge event and not only in France. This year should be a very good year, starting with the talented French actress, Mélanie Laurent (Shosanna Dreyfus in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’). She will serve as Cannes 2011 master of Ceremony of the 64th Festival de Cannes.

Robert de Niro will head the nine-person jury that decides the Palme d’Or, as the President of the jury – Feature film. Michel Gondry is President of the jury – Cinefondation & short; Emir Kusturica, President of the jury – Un Certain Regard; and Joon Ho Bong, President of the jury – Golden Camera. 21 films from around the world are in competition for the Palme D’Or.

Here is what Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, says about the festival:

For it seems that floating on the Croisette is a scent of lightness, desire and peace. If each edition has a particular mood, 2011 is already, even before the first screen lights up, very exciting. Why, how and when does public opinion decides that “Cannes will be great this year”? It’s a mystery … and rightly so [...] This year, Cannes has installed a little innovation here and there: As a guest, Egyptian film culture, home of great cinema, has signaled to the world their desire for democracy and freedom and like Tunisia, which will is also present, shows how cinema moves to the rhythm of world events; a feast of selections for film crews to meet each other rather than in competition or rivalry, or the stress of an audience’s reaction…

This is very well said and we are eager to see some of these movies! We appreciate the approach of the 64th Cannes Film Festival and we hope it will keep its promises.

Vive le Festival de Cannes!

Elizabeth Taylor, the legendary actress and Hollywood Icon famed for her beauty and her seven marriages, has died. The two-time Oscar winner (“Butterfield 8” in 1960 and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” in 1966), was born in London in 1932 to American parents who moved back to the United States and settled in Los Angeles.

She memorably starred in “Cleopatra“ as we all remember her, but most of all she founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research(amfAR) and The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Elizabeth Taylor’s violet eyes will live forever!

Annie Girardot was one of France’s most enduring, acclaimed and popular female star during the 1970s. The multiple-Cesar Award-winning actress died Monday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. She was 79.

Girardot was a fantastic actress whose work ranged from popular comedy to melodrama. We recall some of her roles in Claude Lelouch‘s A Man Who Pleases Me, in which she played opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo. Or Luchino Visconti‘s Rocco And His Brothers, in which she starred with Alain Delon…

In 1996, during her accepting speech for the best supporting actress Cesar for Les Miserables, Annie Girardot said: “I don’t know if the French cinema missed me, but I missed the French cinema crazily.” Have no doubt about that, you will be missed a lot, Annie!

Annie Girardot died the same day former Hollywood actress and sex symbol Jane Russell died, Monday, Feb. 28. Some of her most memorable films include the The Paleface and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe.

Two huge stars have died. It’s always sad because it makes us realize time passes quickly and that the movie stars we love so much are not eternal…

Anne Hathaway and James Franco were the hosts of this year’s Oscars but unfortunately, their performance was met with mixed critical reception. But honestly, we enjoyed it anyway.

This is for what we saw but we also missed a lot of things. Like British street artist Banksy who didn’t show and someone was very disappointed about that: da-eYe. He went to Los Angeles to meet with one of his favorite artist but he wasn’t there…

You can comment on Max’s Blog.

“

No one showed in a monkey mask at the Oscars. Many people were hoping ‘anonymous’ British street artist Banksy would show last night (his film ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop‘ was nominated for Best Documentary Feature) but he didn’t. Or maybe he was there and we didn’t recognize him.

As you may already know, da-eYe was born in the mid-Eighties and his roots come from Graffiti. He loves Hollywood stars (with a preference for Brunette actresses…) and he is a fan of Banksy; no wonder why he came all the way to Los Angeles to meet with the street artist. With no positive results, I’m afraid…

But apparently, someone bombed the wall behind da-eYe to avoid any ambiguity, telling us ‘He’s not Banksy’, the arrow pointing at da-eYe’s head. No Banksy then but our one-eyed guy enjoyed the after parties. A lot. No pictures available, sorry! (In fact, we are not ‘sorry’. It’s all about decency here).

Click on the picture below for larger size. 

“

You must all remember the car chase on the streets of San Francisco with Steve McQueen at the wheel of a Mustang in ‘Bullitt‘. Peter Yates, four-time Oscar Nominee, has passed away at age 82 in London on Sunday. The British director started out as an actor before becoming an assistant director. He made his directorial debut with Summer Holiday and then directed Robbery, John and Mary, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Krull, The Dresser and the memorable The Deep.

We have read an interesting fact from the obituary published by the Los Angeles Times:

Along with the classic chase sequence in “Bullitt,” the appearance of Bisset diving in a body-clinging white T-shirt in “The Deep” provided another iconic moment in Yates’ filmography.Yates chuckled when asked by the Independent of London in 1997 if it bothered him that his career could be “distilled down to such basics.” “My son accused me of exactly that,” he said. “He told me recently that I’d contributed two things to American culture — the car chase and the wet T-shirt.” But, he said, “It’s better to contribute something than absolutely nothing.”

Being ‘distilled down to such basics’ is not a shame, on the contrary. These ‘basics‘ have definitely contributed to American culture. And to ours as well. Earlier this morning, Max Dana tweetedabout Peter Yates’ death and shared two of her previous posts about Bullitt: Car chases in movies: Bullitt, Terminator 2, Mad Max 2… and Steve McQueen: Bullitt chase scene GPS tracked. Many of us will never forget these ‘basics‘!

This is a new rendezvous on the Sama Gazette : each Wednesday, we will give you some news from… France! Once a week we will select a news concerning France and that we think is worth to be mentioned. As some of you may recall, the idea of bringing you news from France started last year with Why France is best place to live in world; now this is an ‘official’ rendezvous on the Sama Gazette.

So for this first C’est la vie in France, we chose an article published on the New York Time on January 3rd. Films Open French Wounds From Algeria by Steven Erlanger caught our attention because as the author says: ‘ The French colonial experience in Algeria, marked by warfare, terrorism and torture, is a wound that never quite seems to close’.

This is a serious topic and maybe it will give you some information you didn’t already know about France relationship with northwestern Africa Maghreb. Opinions about the mentioned films may differ from the one of the author, but we think it is worth reading. We can learn a lot from movies, just like Max Dana pointed it out in Hotel Rwanda, Syriana, Blood Diamond… Not only entertainment.

Here is an extract of the article:

The French colonial experience in Algeria, marked by warfare, terrorism and torture, is a wound that never quite seems to close. Anger and guilt about Algeria infuse some of the anxiety today about the heavily immigrant and Muslim banlieues, or suburbs, about the French concern with national identity, radical Islam and veiled women. Lately, France has been moved and angered by two films about Algeria and the French confrontation with its colonial past. The films could not be more different: one, made by Rachid Bouchareb, a Frenchman of Algerian descent, is a raging historical fiction about the Algerian fight for independence; the other, made by Xavier Beauvois, is suffused with religious belief and saintliness. But both are set in a period of violence, the first when the Algerian independence fighters of the National Liberation Front, the F.L.N. — terrorists in French eyes — began the nasty and blood-drenched struggle to throw off French rule, and the second when radical Islam was gaining hold in Algeria and trying to take power in a civil war, an effort crushed by the Algerian government itself.