This week the spotlight is on Marcel Carné, an innovative filmmaker who led the poetic realism movement and was arguably considered the most admired French filmmaker of his era. He produced his great works just before the mid-twentieth century, some of which include; “Quai de Brumes” (1938); “Les Portes de la Nuit” (1946); and “Le Jour se lève” (1939). In 1936 Carné directed his first full length feature film “Jenny” and it was with the production of this fil...

Gary Lucas Plays Coffin Joe SXSW posterWhat a great party last night at the French Embassy here in NYC for the restoration of Marcel Carne's seminal "Les Enfants du Paradis"! One of my favorite films, possibly the best film of all time--and a new restored print wll soon be available on DVD through Criterion and is about to commence a 3 week run at the Film Forum here.   As usual, the crowd at these parties was exceptionally glittery--hung out with my old friend Dr. Ann...

When the New York Film Festival's salute to 50 Years of Janus Films begins on September 30th with the screening of a pristine 35mm film print of the Jean Renoir classic THE RULES OF THE GAME, it will begin a month-long celebration of 30 cinematic gems that can only be described as "essential cinema". Renoir's film, set in a French country estate on the eve of World War II, not only is illustrative of its particular time and place, but serves as a kind of coda for the instability and restlessne...