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Snow white
Blancanieves (known as Blancaneu in Catalan) is a 2012 Spanish black-and-white silent drama film written and directed by Pablo Berger. Based on the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, the story is set in a romantic vision of 1920s Andalusia.However, the film approaches storytelling through the integration of Spanish culture from characters' names to traditions they follow. Additionally, the film alludes to other fairy tales including Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. While it retells stories originally told through tales based in fantasy, it derails from the traditional storytelling method that ends with a happily ever after. Instead, the film is rather dark and ends in tragedy. Berger calls it a "love letter to European silent cinema.]
Blancanieves was Spain's 85th Academy Awards official submission to Best Foreign Language category, but it did not make the shortlist. The film won the Special Jury Prize and an ex-aequo Best Actress "Silver Shell" Award for Macarena García at the 2012 San Sebastián International Film Festival.[8] It was also nominated in every category for which it was eligible at the 27th Goya Awards (except for Best Sound), winning ten Goya Awards, including the Best Film.
The Man who Knew too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a 1956 American mystery thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. It is Hitchcock's second film using this title, following his own 1934 film of the same name but featuring a significantly altered plot and script.
In the book-length interview Hitchcock/Truffaut (1966), in response to fellow filmmaker François Truffaut's assertion that aspects of the remake were by far superior, Hitchcock replied, "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional."
The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", sung by Day. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on April 29, 1956.
Driving Mum
Driving Mum (Icelandic: Á Ferð með Mömmu) is a 2022 comedy drama film written and directed by Hilmar Oddsson that stars Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld, and Hera Hilmar. Driving Mum is shot in black-and-white. Set in 1980, after the sudden passing of his mother (Kristbjörg Kjeld), Jón (Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson) takes his mother's corpse and the family dog, Bresnef, on one last trip to Eyrarbakki to bury her, as her instructions.
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Charade
Charade is a 1963 American romantic screwball comedy mystery film produced and directed by Stanley Donen,[5] written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. The cast also features Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Ned Glass and Jacques Marin. It spans three genres: suspense thriller, romance and comedy.
Charade was praised by critics for its screenplay and the chemistry between Grant and Hepburn. It has been called "the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made". It was filmed on location in Paris and contains animated titles by Maurice Binder. Henry Mancini's score features the popular theme song "Charade".
In 2022, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a 1962 British coming-of-age film directed by Tony Richardson, one of the new young directors emerging from the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. The screenplay was written by Alan Sillitoe, based on his 1959 short story of the same title, and concerns a rebellious youth who has been sentenced to a borstal for burgling a bakery. He gains privileges in the institution through his prowess as a long-distance runner, but reveries of important events before his incarceration that he has during his solitary runs lead him to re-evaluate his status as the prize athlete of the Governor.
Les Parpluies de Cherbourg
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (French: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young lovers in the French city of Cherbourg, separated by circumstance. The film's dialogue is entirely sung as recitative, including casual conversation, and is sung-through, or through-composed, like some operas and stage musicals. It has been seen as the second of an informal tetralogy of Demy films that share some of the same actors, characters, and overall atmosphere of romantic melancholy, coming after Lola (1961) and before The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and Model Shop (1969). The French-language film was a co-production between France and West Germany.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg won the Palme d'Or at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. In the United States, it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Foreign-Language Film, Best Original Screenplay (Demy), and Best Original Score (Demy and Legrand). The film's main theme, "I Will Wait for You", was nominated for Best Original Song. It was later adapted into an English-language stage musical.
In 2018, a BBC Culture critics' poll ranked the film in the Top 100 Greatest Non-English Films of All Time.
The Great Lillian Hall
The Great Lillian Hall is an American television film directed by Michael Cristofer from a screenplay by Elisabeth Seldes-Annacone.
The film stars Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Lily Rabe, Jesse Williams, and Pierce Brosnan. It premiered on HBO on May 31, 2024. The film is loosely inspired by American stage actress Marian Seldes, who was the aunt of screenwriter Elisabeth Seldes Annacone.
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
The Young Girls of Rochefort (French: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, lit. 'The Young Ladies of Rochefort') is a 1967 French musical comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy. The ensemble cast is headlined by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, and features George Chakiris, Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, Grover Dale and Geneviève Thénier, along with Gene Kelly and Danielle Darrieux.
Michel Legrand composed the score for the film, to Demy's lyrics. The most famous songs from the film are "A Pair of Twins" ("Chanson des Jumelles") and Maxence's Song ("Chanson de Maxence"), which was later relyricized by Alan and Marilyn Bergman as "You Must Believe in Spring". The dance sequences were choreographed by Norman Maen.
The film was a success for Demy in his native France, with 1,319,432 admissions, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture — Original or Adaptation at the 41st Academy Awards.
A stage musical based on the film was produced in France in 2003, adapted by Alain Boublil and directed by Daniel Moyne.
Jean de Florette
Jean de Florette : is a 1986 period drama film directed by Claude Berri. It was followed by Manon des sources, released the same year. Both are the adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s 1963 two-part novel The Water of the Hills, with the second part also being adapted from Pagnol's original 1952 film Manon of The Spring. Berri's version was the first attempt at adapting the whole saga, including the first part, Jean de Florette, which was originally written as a prequel to the novelization of Manon of The Spring.
The story takes place in rural Provence in the 1920s, where two local farmers plot to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited property. The film starred three of France's most prominent actors – Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, who won a BAFTA and a César award for his performance, and Yves Montand in one of his last roles.
The film was shot back to back with Manon des sources, over a period of seven months. At the time the most expensive French film ever made, it was a great commercial and critical success, both domestically and internationally, and was nominated for eight César awards, and 10 BAFTAs. The success of the two films helped promote Provence as a tourist destination.
The Draughtsman's Contract
The Draughtsman's Contract is a 1982 British period comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway – his first conventional feature film (following the feature-length mockumentary The Falls). Originally produced for Channel 4, the film is a form of murder mystery, set in rural Wiltshire, England in 1694 (during the joint reign of William III and Mary II). The period setting is reflected in Michael Nyman's score, which borrows widely from Henry Purcell, and in the extensive and elaborate costume designs (which, for effect, slightly exaggerate those of the period). The action was shot on location in the house and formal gardens of Groombridge Place.[4] The film received the Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association.
The Critic.
The Critic is a 2023 British period thriller film directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn. The film stars Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.
The Critic is a 2023 British period thriller film directed by Anand Tucker and written by Patrick Marber, based on the 2015 novel Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn. The film stars Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Alfred Enoch, Romola Garai, and Lesley Manville.
The Critic premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate on 13 September 2024.2023,.
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Orlando
Orlando is a 1992 film loosely based on Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography, starring Tilda Swinton as Orlando, Billy Zane as Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, and Quentin Crisp as Queen Elizabeth I. It was written and directed by Sally Potter, who also co-wrote the score with David Motion. The film is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia.
Critics praised the film and particularly applauded its visual treatment of the settings of Woolf's novel. The film premiered in competition at the 49th Venice International Film Festival, and was re-released in select US cinemas on 23 July 2010.
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La Cage Aux Folles
La Cage aux Folles also released as Birds of a Feather) is a 1978 comedy film directed by Édouard Molinaro, based on Jean Poiret's 1973 play. It stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as a gay couple operating a drag nightclub in a French resort town, Rémi Laurent as the former's son, and Michel Galabru and Carmen Scarpitta as his new fiancée's ultra-conservative parents. The French-language picture was a Franco-Italian co-production by United Artists.
The film was released in Italy on 20 October 1978 and in France on 25 October. A considerable commercial success, it became one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films released in the United States. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Director (Molinaro), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. Michel Serrault won the César Award for Best Actor. It was followed by two sequels, with Tognazzi, Serrault, Galabru, and Luke reprising their roles. The 1983 musical and the 1996 American film The Birdcage were adapted from the same source material.
Everything, Everywhere, all at Once
Everything Everywhere All at Once[a] is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo and Jonathan Wang. The film incorporates elements from several genres and film media, including surreal comedy, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts films, immigrant narrative, and animationMichelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn Quan Wang, a Chinese-American immigrant who, while audited by the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse. The film also stars Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong.
Next Goal Wins.
Next Goal Wins is a 2023 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Iain Morris. It is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison about Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen's efforts to lead the American Samoa national football team, considered one of the weakest association football teams in the world, to qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The film stars Michael Fassbender as Rongen, alongside Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.
Next Goal Wins premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023, and was released in the United States on November 17, 2023, by Searchlight Pictures.
Poor Things
Poor Things is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. A co-production between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the film stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael.[6] Stone plays Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who has been brought back to life via brain transplant.
Principal photography took place in Hungary from August to December 2021. Poor Things premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2023, and won the Golden Lion there. The film received critical acclaim and was released theatrically in the United States on December 8, 2023, and in Ireland and the United Kingdom on January 12, 2024, by Searchlight Pictures. It grossed $117 million worldwide on a budget of $35 million.
Poor Things was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and received various accolades, including four wins at the 96th Academy Awards, two at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, and five at the 77th British Academy Film Awards; Stone won Best Actress at each ceremony.
All we imagine is light
All We Imagine as Light is a 2024 drama film written and directed by Payal Kapadia. The cast includes Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon. Featuring Malayalam, Hindi, and Marathi dialogue, it is an international co-production involving companies from France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 77th Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2024, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix. It was the first film from India to compete in the main competition since Swaham in 1994.
It received a limited release in Kerala, India, on 21 September 2024, before opening wide on 29 November 2024 to positive reviews. It was named one of the top five international films of 2024 by the National Board of Review. At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, the film received two nominations, for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director.
My favourite cake.
My Favourite Cake (Persian: Keyk-e mahbub-e man) is a 2024 tragicomedy and romantic drama film co-written and directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, and starring Lily Farhadpour and Esmail Mehrabi. The film tell the story of a woman who decides to live out her desires in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted.
The international co-production between Iran, France, Sweden, and Germany had its world premiere on 16 February 2024 at the main competition for the Golden Bear at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The filmmakers were issued travel bans during post-production, and prohibited from attending the premiere in Berlin, by the Iranian Government.
Big Night.
Big Night is a 1996 American comedy-drama film co-directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci. Set in the 1950s on the Jersey Shore, the film follows two Italian immigrant brothers, played by Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, as they host an evening of free food at their restaurant in an effort to allow it to gain greater exposure. The film's supporting cast includes Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, and Allison Janney.
Produced by David Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Filley for the Samuel Goldwyn Company, Big Night was met with largely positive reviews and grossed $14 million worldwide. It was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Sundance Film Festival and the "Grand Special Prize" at the Deauville Film Festival. Scott and Tucci won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Director. Tucci and Joseph Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
I haven't seen it but it's been hailed as the ultimate restaurant/food movie. Written by and stars Stanley Tucci.
Educating Rita.
Educating Rita is a 1983 British comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert with a screenplay by Willy Russell based on his 1980 stage play. The film stars Michael Caine, Julie Walters, Michael Williams and Maureen Lipman. It won multiple major awards for best actor and best actress and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Caine and Walters both won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for best actor and actress. The British Film Institute ranked Educating Rita the 84th greatest British film of the 20th century.
Nomadland
Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role.
Nomadland premiered on September 11, 2020, at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. It also won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It had a one-week streaming limited release on December 4, 2020, and was distributed by Searchlight Pictures in selected IMAX theaters in the United States on January 29, 2021, and simultaneously in theaters, and streaming digitally on Hulu, on February 19, 2021. The film received widespread critical acclaim and was a box office success, grossing $39 million worldwide against its $5 million budget.
At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for McDormand, from a total of six nominations. Zhao became the first Asian woman and the second woman ever to win Best Director; McDormand became the first woman and fourth person to win Academy Awards for both acting and producing, and the first person to win Academy Awards as producer and performer for the same film. It is also the first Searchlight release to win Best Picture since the studio's ownership under Walt Disney Studios, following Disney's acquisition of the 21st Century Fox assets. It also won Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director at the 78th Golden Globe Awards four awards including Best Film at the 74th British Academy Film Awards, and four awards including Best Film at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards.[ It has since been cited as one of the best films of the 2020s and the 21st century.
Rear Window
Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story It Had to Be Murder. Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival.
Rear Window is considered by many filmgoers, critics, and scholars to be one of Hitchcock's best, as well as one of the greatest films ever made. It received four Academy Award nominations, and was ranked number 42 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list and number 48 on the 10th-anniversary edition, and in 1997 was added to the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The film was made with a budget of $1 million ($11,675,427.51 in 2024 inflation), and grossed $37 million ($431,990,817.84 in 2024 inflation) at the box office.[
Moonstruck
Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and written by John Patrick Shanley. It stars Cher as a widowed Italian American woman who falls in love with her fiancé's hot-tempered, estranged younger brother, played by Nicolas Cage. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia.
Moonstruck had a limited theatrical release on December 18, 1987, and was released nationally on January 15, 1988 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film earned critical and commercial success. It received six nominations at the 60th Academy Awards, winning three for Best Actress (Cher), Best Supporting Actress (Dukakis), and Best Original Screenplay (Shanley).
Faces Places
Faces Places (French: Visages Villages) is a 2017 French documentary film directed by renowned filmmaker Agnès Varda and artist JR. The film documents the duo as they journey through rural France, capturing the portraits of the people they meet along the way. Their collaborative process leads them to create large-scale portraits, which are then displayed on buildings and other public spaces, leaving a profound impact on both the subjects and the communities they visit.
The film was screened out of competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it earned critical acclaim and won the prestigious L'Œil d'or award, which is given for the best documentary. It was officially released in France on 28 June 2017, and later in the United States on 6 October 2017. At the 90th Academy Awards, Faces Places was nominated for Best Documentary Feature, further cementing its status as one of the year's standout films.
Notably, Faces Places was Agnès Varda's second-to-last cinematic work before her passing. It was followed by the two-episode 2019 documentary series, Varda by Agnès, which offers a retrospective look at her career.
The film is a heartfelt exploration of art, human connection, and the power of shared experiences, bridging generational and cultural gaps through the simple act of portraiture.
Firebrand
Firebrand is a 2023 British historical drama film directed by Karim Aïnouz and written by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth, based on the 2013 novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle. The film focuses on Katherine Parr, Queen of England the sixth wife of Henry VIII. It stars Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, and Eddie Marsan. The film marks Aïnouz's first directorial effort in the English language.
Firebrand premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2023, where it was selected to compete for Palme d'Or. It was released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2024.
Swede Caroline
Crime-comedy mockumentary Swede Caroline follows giant vegetable grower Caroline (Jo Hartley) as she seeks to uncover the truth surrounding her pilfered prize-winning marrow plants. The hour-and-a-half directorial debut for Finn Bruce and Brook Driver is gloriously British, featuring a range of familiar comics as they traverse the quirky, and sometimes criminal, landscape of village fete competitions.