La traque (1975)

La Traque / The track (1975) is an excellent french thriller with psychological and social touches, it can be included in the pre-survival horror genre. A riff on the Most Dangerous Game meets La regle du jeu with a bit of Straw Dogs..

The social / class commentary  (la bourgeoisie de la campagne/province), and the solid acting by some of the best French actors of that time (Jean Paul Marielle, Michel Lonsdale, Philippe Leotard, Jean-Luc Bideau, Michel Constantin), the presence of American Mimsy Farmer (in lots of giallos in Italy at that period) , the atmosphere (no music except the opening and end credits), the time unity (all almost in real time, one day) and the great photography by Claude Renoir ! make this one of the most interesting films of this kind of the seventies. An unknown gem ! Considered to be the best Serge Leroy film. 

Marcello Mio (2024)

 First good film I've seen in a cinema this year. Also from last year, in the Cannes 77 film fest official selection. A very personal film, una affare di famiglia with everyone playing their own parts. 

Marcello Mio is of course about Marcello Mastroianni, and Chiara Mastroianni, and her mom, Catherine Deneuve. And the buddies, from Fabrice Luchini to Nicole Garcia, Benjamin Biolay (Chira's ex), Melvin Poupaud (un autre Chira's ex ;), all playing themselves. Also Stefania Sandrelli and Marcello MM himself in an excerpt from Pietro Germi's 1961 Divorzio all'italiana/Divorce Italian Style. And Francesca Fialdini, a hot TV host from Rai.  

written and directed by Christophe Honoré (les Chansons d'amour), 

super self referential (meta-meta) and for true cinephiles, including plot points from MM's films, a dog, a soldier, a bridge, a white kitten, and family memoires, this film is not for everyone. But maybe those who see it (of course I was alone in the theater, Monday at 16.45 !!!) should dig further. from the easy clues, 8 1/2  & La Dolce Vita, to the more obscure family references (including Maria Callas, a specific restaurant in Paris, Ginger & Fred, a song about how Marcello makes you laugh, etc.)

Beautiful soundtrack, including Isao Tomita's version of Clair de Lune. 

Oscar 2025 (#97) nominations !!!

I have seen now  The Brutalist (wow!) and A Complete Unknown (bof...), 

those films I wrote about will have links on their titles, very happy for Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice !!! And for the 5 nominations for The Substance !  Even tho Emilia Perez will win big ( incl. best foreign film, UPDATE , that was then, after that EP fell bigtime off the US charts), I stand by Demi Moore ! And may Flow go home to Latvia with the best animation award ! Anora rocks too !!!

(some of these films are on my Top 2024 films list here). 

Talk back on March 2nd (3d in Ro.) ;)

Oscars 2025 (#97): full list of nominees

Picture

"Anora" 

"The Brutalist" 

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"I'm Still Here" 

"Nickel Boys" 

"The Substance" 

"Wicked" 

Director

Sean Baker, "Anora" 

Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist" 

James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown" 

Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Perez" 

Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance" 

Actor

Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist" 

Timothee Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown" 

Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing" 

Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave" 

Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice" 

Actress

Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked" 

Karla Sofia Gascon, "Emilia Perez" 

Mikey Madison, "Anora" 

Demi Moore, "The Substance" 

Fernanda Torres, "I'm Still Here" 

Supporting Actor

Yura Borisov, "Anora" 

Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain" 

Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown" 

Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist" 

Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"

Supporting Actress

Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown" 

Ariana Grande, "Wicked" 

Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist" 

Isabella Rosellini, "Conclave" 

Zoe Saldana, "Emilia Perez" 

Original Screenplay

"Anora" 

"The Brutalist" 

"A Real Pain" 

"September 5" 

"The Substance"

Adapted Screenplay

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Nickel Boys" 

"Sing Sing" 

Animated Feature Film

"Flow" 

"Inside Out 2" 

"Memoir of a Snail" 

"Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" 

"The Wild Robot" 

International Feature Film

"I'm Still Here" (Brazil)

"The Girl With the Needle" (Denmark) 

"Emilia Perez" (France) 

"The Seed of the Sacred Fig" (Germany) 

"Flow" (Latvia) 

Documentary Feature Film

"Black Box Diaries" 

"No Other Land"

"Porcelain War" 

"Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" 

"Sugar King" 

Documentary Short Film 

"Death By Numbers" 

"I Am Ready, Warden" 

"Incident" 

"Instruments of a Beating Heart" 

"The Only Girl in the Orchestra" 

Animated Short Film

"Beautiful Men" 

"In the Shadow of the Cypress" 

"Magic Candies" 

"Wander to Wonder" 

"Yuck!" 

Live-Action Short Film

"A Lien" 

"Anuja" 

"I'm Not a Robot" 

"The Last Ranger" 

"The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent" 

Original Song

"El Mal" from "Emilia Perez" 

"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" 

"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" 

"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Perez" 

"Never Too Late" from "Elton John: Never Too Late" 

Original Score

"The Brutalist" 

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

"The Wild Robot" 

Sound

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

"The Wild Robot" 

Visual Effects

"Alien: Romulus" 

"Better Man" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" 

"Wicked" 

Film Editing

"Anora"

"The Brutalist"

"Conclave" 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Wicked" 

Costume Design

"A Complete Unknown" 

"Conclave" 

"Gladiator II" 

"Nosferatu" 

"Wicked" 

Makeup and Hairstyling

"A Different Man"

"Emilia Perez" 

"Nosferatu"

"The Substance" 

"Wicked" 

Cinematography

"The Brutalist"

"Dune: Part Two 

"Emilia Perez" 

"Maria"  (Ed Lachman, great ! best thing in the film! he also has 4 noms. but no win...)

"Nosferatu" 

Production Design

"The Brutalist" 

"Conclave" 

"Dune: Part Two" 

"Nosferatu" 

"Wicked" 

RIP John Sykes, Garth Hudson, Bernard Blier, Jeannot Szwarc & Joan Plowright

...had no time to post more, in time of our Eamonn McCormack gig on Friday 24 !

English guitar hero John Sykes, from Blue Murder, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pang Tang and Whitesnake, he was only 65 !!!

Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of THE BAND is gone at 87 ! After the demises of   Richard Manuel (suicide in 1986 at 42 !), Rick Danko(1999), Levon Helm  (2012) & Robbie Robertson on my Bday in 2023....

Bertrard Blier, the great French director of Nihilistic films like Les Valseuses and Buffet Froid, he was 85. 

also French director Jeannot Szwarc, at 87. Somewhere in Time, Jaws 2, Supergirl. 

and Dame Joan Plowright, sir Laurence Olivier's former wife at 95. She shot in Romania in Callas Forever.