'Blue is the Warmest Color,' 'The Past,' 'Stranger by the Lake' land César nods

Posted by · 4:00 am · January 31st, 2014

International festival sensations feature in the top categories, but the field was led by French comedy hit “Me, Myself and Mum,” with 10 nominations.

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Cannes Review: Roman Polanski gets frisky in smart but slight 'Venus in Fur'

Posted by · 6:15 pm · May 26th, 2013

Adaptation of Broadway hit is more fun than ‘Carnage,’ but just as minor.

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Cannes Check 2013: Roman Polanski's 'Venus in Fur'

Posted by · 11:18 pm · May 14th, 2013

Continuing our cheat sheet for the Cannes Competition.

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US and France dominate a big-name Cannes Film Festival lineup

Posted by · 4:15 am · April 18th, 2013

One woman makes this year’s Competition – but not the one we were expecting.

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Cannes lineup includes Payne, Soderbergh, Polanski, Coens, Refn… and James Franco

Posted by · 2:12 am · April 18th, 2013

19 films are vying for the Palme d’Or.

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With 'Stoker' on the way, 10 great English-language debuts by foreign directors

Posted by · 8:49 am · February 27th, 2013

From F.W. Murnau to Alfonso Cuarón, these directors didn’t get lost in translation.

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'The Artist' (what else?) takes top honors at César Awards

Posted by · 3:08 pm · February 24th, 2012

“The Artist,” unsurprisingly enough, was the big winner at the César Awards, France’s answer to the Oscars — but not everything went the Oscar frontrunner’s way, as Jean Dujardin was upset in the Best Actor race.

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'The Artist' isn't top dog in César Award noms

Posted by · 6:25 am · January 27th, 2012

It may be the first French frontrunner in the history of the Academy Awards, but on home turf, “The Artist” had to settle for third place in the César Award nominations. Another Cannes prizewinner, law-enforcement drama “Polisse,” leads with 13 nods.

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Does ‘Carnage’ confuse instinct with immaturity?

Posted by · 9:03 am · January 23rd, 2012

A recent interview highlights some of the flaws in “Carnage” and the stage play it is based on.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Stumping for Serkis

Posted by · 7:03 am · December 2nd, 2011

In today’s round-up, the buzz on Andy Serkis’s Oscar campaign makes its way overseas, “Shame” is all over the blogosphere and parents of the victims in the Memphis Three case protest Oscar consideration of “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.”

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 64 — Digging into the lead categories

Posted by · 7:54 am · October 7th, 2011

In today’s podcast, we dig in on the lead actor and lead actress categories, discuss Roman Polanski’s NYFF opener “Carnage” and the critical reception of “The Ides of March,” opening today.

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Polanski's aptly titled 'Carnage' makes for dicey translation to the screen

Posted by · 3:36 pm · September 30th, 2011

Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the play that has made it from Paris to London to New York to Los Angeles comes up considerably short.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Will mo-cap projects like 'Tintin' and 'Happy Feet 2' qualify for Oscar's animated feature race?

Posted by · 6:23 am · September 29th, 2011

In today’s round-up, the Academy’s feature animation branch debates the eligibility of motion capture films, Melissa McCarthy teams up with the director of “The Help” and “The Ides of March” premieres in Los Angeles.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Taking artists at their work

Posted by · 4:00 am · September 22nd, 2011

In today’s round-up, Manohla Dargis argues in favor of considering the work, not the actions, of filmmakers like Lars Von Trier and Roman Polanski, Steve Martin humbly passes along some Oscar emcee suggestions to newly minted host Eddie Murphy and Russia’s foreign language submission stirs up some controversy.

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