Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon (2007) ****

Le Scaphandre et le papillon (2007) ****

Grindhouse (2007) ****

As its producer Harvey Weinstein was the first to admit, to release Quentin Tarantino's ''Death Proof'' and Robert Rodriguez's ''Planet Terror'' on a double-bill was a financially disastrous decision, turning an otherwise brilliant enterprise into a monumental box office flop. Less so because of its 3 hours and 12 minutes length, and more so because no two movies could possibly be more dissimilar and more inappropriate for a ''package deal'' release. Robert Rodriguez's film is an exciting, fast-paced action movie about zombies. It's an easy-to-watch, crowd-pleasing gorefest full of humour, blood, sex and high-adrenaline action. Quentin Tarantino's film, on the other hand, is a genuine masterpiece of the cinematic art, whose highly unusual narrative structure, brilliant dialogue scenes, eccentric pacing, and truly weird characters, have turned off most mainstream viewers (who probably fell asleep long before the unbelievably exciting car chase sequence that ends the movie). Between the two films, there are some marvellous fake trailers, the best being ''Machete'' (top photo), which Robert Rodriguez wants to turn into his next movie. There is little to add to ''Planet Terror'' except to note that it is a magnificent homage to George Romero and that there isn't a single dull moment in the entire movie. But it isn’t a masterwork. ''Death Proof'', on the other hand, has few parallels in the history of cinema. It’s basically a porno movie about a rapist, except that his penis has been replaced by a race car. There is vaginal sex in the film (a head-on collision early in the film, with a girl's leg sticking out of the car’s window). There is also anal sex in the film (when Kurt Russell’s car is repeatedly bumping the girls’ car from the rear). The final shot of the film is an homage to ''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'', but the fabulous and entertaining dialogue scenes prove once again that Tarantino owes far more to Eric Rohmer than to Russ Meyer. The amazing car chase scene (probably the best ever filmed) was shot in long, unbroken takes, with a girl (real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell) clinging to a hood at unbelievable speeds. The jazzy, super-quirky "Chick Habit" plays during the closing credits. Jog has an excellent review of the film here.

"Planet Terror" ***

"Death Proof" *****

I Served The King Of England (2007) ****

This marvelous black comedy by Jiri Menzel, set in Czechoslovakia before, during and after the World War II, has been adapted, as was Menzel's 1967 Oscar-winning masterpiece "Closely Watched Trains", from a novel by Bohumil Hrabal. There are many similarities between both films, starting with a naive young protagonist in the tradition of Good Soldier Švejk, but while ''Closely Watched Trains'' (Menzel's film debut) was a modest, and largely apolitical work (despite its World War II setting), ''I Served The King Of England'' is an ambitious, epic saga that spans almost a quarter of the century of the Czech history (from circa 1935 to circa 1960) and deals with extremely controversial themes in a fabulously ironic and comedic way. In a way, ''I Served The King Of England'' is a bit like a Czech ''Forrest Gump", except that this Forrest Gump is a Nazi collaborator and war profiteer, but despite all that, he still remains an immensely likeable fellow. It wasn't his fault, after all, that he fell in love with a poor German girl (Julia Jentsch), molested by brutish Czech thugs during the Sudetenland crisis in 1938. And it wasn't his fault that his sexy new girlfriend turned out to be a fervent Nazi fanatic. Our Czech Forrest Gump could hardly be blamed for choosing the losing side in World War II and suffering the consequences afterwards (although the exact reason he suffers those consequences is a deliciously ironic twist that won't be revealed here, but which perfectly sums up the absurd conundrum in which Eastern Europe has found itself in the late 1940’s). Eddie Cockrell praises the film in Variety as "a unique mixture of self-deprecating dark humour and personal tragedy that has been the Czech cinema's stock-in-trade since their celebrated 1960s New Wave (...) And pic's tone is nothing if not audacious, wringing laughs from subjects that include a Nazi human breeding centre. (…) There's nothing lecherous about the parade of beautiful women on view, all of whom are photographed as lovingly as the beer". It is all true, except for the last sentence - the film is actually quite lecherous, sexy and perverse.

No Country For Old Men (2007) ****

The Coen Brothers have came up with another cinematic gem. An ingenious mix between "Fargo" and "The Terminator", it's a stylistic tour-de-force about a cold-blooded killer (Javier Bardem) relentlessly pursuing a Texas hunter (Josh Brolin). A sort of modern Tex-Mex western, set on the both sides of the Rio Grande in a kind of no-man's-land separating rugged individualism from a nihilistic abyss. The film was named "Best Picture of the Year" by the National Board of Review (see here and here). John Podhoretz has an unfairly negative, but hilarious review of the film in Weekly Standard, calling the film "The Texas Highbrow Massacre"...

300 (2007) ****

The mullahs in Iran have correctly identified the real message of the film, and denounced ''300'' as a pro-American diatribe which is, and I quote, ''part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture''. And they are absolutely correct. Directed by Zack Snyder, ''300'' is a jingoistic, unabashedly fascistic celebration of Western superiority over Eastern despotism and barbarism. The film is guaranteed to give every woke university professor a solid heart attack. Spartan culture is probably the closest the Western civilization has ever come in creating a purely Darwinian state ruled by ruthless natural selection. In Sparta, you either died or became a fearless warrior. The weak were mercilessly eliminated in ways even Adolf Hitler would have probably found a bit harsh. The film honestly deals with the fascist reality of Sparta, but instead of denouncing it, it brazenly celebrates it. It also celebrates heroism, patriotism and other universal virtues, but it also reminds the viewers that those heroic individuals were incredibly cruel, uncompromising and brutal. So while admiring King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) for his courage, we are also forced to condemn him when he refuses the help of a deformed dwarf willing to fight alongside him. Physically deformed people had no place in Sparta. On the other hand - SPOILERS ALERT - when Leoniodas's gorgeous wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) has sex with her husband's political opponent in a vain attempt to save Leonidas' life, her adultery is presented as a heroic and admirable gesture. That too is historically accurate - Spartan women, even married ones, had the right to sleep with other men (and women). In fact, a good Spartan warrior was expected to share his wife with his comrades in arms. Spartan women enjoyed a status, power and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. 

4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (2007) ****

Into The Wild (2007) ****

Sean Penn has made one of the best and most memorable films of 2007 - "Into The Wild". The film tells the fascinating true story of Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a 20-year-old college graduate, who abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes across the United States to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Masterfully directed by Sean Penn, it's a deeply moving portrait of America in the 1990's, with a memorable gallery of characters. As Roger Ebert mentions in his excellent review of the film, Chris McCandless could be seen as "a heroic loner, renouncing civilization, returning to the embrace of nature. In centuries past such men might have been saints, retreating to a cave or hidden hermitage, denying themselves all pleasures except subsistence (...) This is a reflective, regretful, serious film about a young man swept away by his uncompromising choices". It's profoundly touching and unforgettable. A minor masterpiece.

Klimt (2007) ***

This is what a certain Martin Kelly wrote about this film on imdb.com: "I didn't know too much about Gustav Klimt before watching this film and I didn't leave the cinema all that enlightened either.  This pretentious and baffling movie informs us of the following: that Klimt painted lots of pictures of naked women, he swore quite a lot, he wasn't religious, he had lots of illegitimate children and his mother and sister were mentally unstable. Fascinating (...) If Klimt's story isn't worth telling, then why bother? And if a film had to be made, couldn't the filmmakers have produced something at the very least coherent? This is the kind of movie which gives biopics a bad name. Definitely one to avoid unless you enjoy being confused and bored". This hilariously obtuse comment must be even more amusing to those familiar with the work of Raoul Ruiz, who directed "Klimt", because compared to the Chilean-born filmmaker's other cinematic accomplishments (such as "Le Temps retrouvé" or "Trois vies et une seule mort"), "Klimt" is a remarkable example of complete clarity, perfect coherence, edge-of-your-seat excitement and utter lack of pretensions. The film stars John Malkovich as the famous Austrian painter whose lavish, sexual masterpieces came to symbolize the Art Nouveau style (or "Secession") of the early 20th century. Saffron Burrows, Georgia Reeve, Julie Brauning, Ariella Hirshfeld and Verena Mundhenke make memorable appearances as his muses and models. As Martin Kelly correctly points out, Klimt's life was hardly dramatic in itself. But Raoul Ruiz actually manages to squeeze every ounce of drama out of his otherwise uneventful life story. It's far from a perfect movie, but it's as good (or better) as its subject matter allows it to be.

The Brave One (2007) ***

Sicko (2007) ***

Michael Moore's best movie in years, a hilarious indictment of the health care insurance system in the United States. He's as manipulative as in all his other movies, but this time, unlike with the pro-Saddam Hussein's ''Fahrenheit 9/11", at least he's fighting for a good cause.

A l'interieur (2007) ***

Excellent horror movie from France, about a pregnant woman in danger.

Hostel: Part II (2007) ***

The ''Hostel'' series is doing to Eastern Europe what ''Deliverance'' did to the American South. With memories of the Holocaust still fresh, and additionally inspired by recent accusations of illegal CIA-run torture camps for Al Qaeda prisoners (see this post for more details), the ''Hostel'' series presents Eastern Europe as this dangerous land where Communists-turned-capitalist psychopaths lure innocent young people to be killed and tortured for a price. And while the first ''Hostel'' (2006), with its Germanic villains, was clearly trying to evoke the Holocaust, ''Hostel: Part II'', with its two American villains, might have very well been inspired by those CIA torture camps stories. And the film certainly feeds on the same kind of anti-Eastern Europe prejudice and bigotry that makes Western liberals so determined to prove their accusations concerning illegal detention of Muslim terrorists in Eastern Europe. Directed once again by Eli Roth (with Quentin Tarantino still as executive producer), ''Hostel: Part II'' is different from its predecessor in several respects. For once, it’s now about girls - Beth (Lauren German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), and Whitney (Bijou Phillips) – touring Eastern Europe on the cheap. On a train, they meet Axelle (Vera Jordanova) who takes them to the same hostel deep in the wild woods of Slovakia, where the horny guys from the first film met their gruesome end. This time, there is a bit less sex and nudity, and - SPOILERS ALERT - unlike the guys from the first film, who seemed to fuck every available Euro-chick in sight, the poor girls here don't even get to have any sex (not even once) before being strapped to torture chairs or hanged naked upside down. A possible lesbian attraction between Beth and Axelle is hinted upon, but never explored, implicitly or explicitly. But while the film has almost no soft-core nude scenes - except for a scene with Vera Jordanova, Iveta Rucka and two naked girls swimming in a fish tank - it more than makes up for it with a truly disturbing scene involving Lorna and a cruel descendent of the infamous Hungarian countess, Elizabeth Bathory (Monika Malacova), who likes to bathe in the blood of virgins (and Lorna is a virgin). It is quite a surprise to see the star of Todd Solondz's ''Welcome To The Dollhouse'' perform in such a graphic, erotic, gory and demeaning scene. Unfortunately, it's mostly downhill after that. Is it because the film was directed by a man that its only killing of a woman by a man takes place offscreen, while the most graphic and shocking murder scenes involve women killing other women or men ? The ending is quite predictable (telegraphed well in advance when Whitney mentions Beth's inheritance), but it still packs a wallop. And it's way more disturbing than the conventional ending of the first film (neatly betrayed at the beginning of ''Part II'').

Mr Brooks (2007) ***

Love In The Time Of Cholera (2007) ***

The Lookout (2007) ***

Zodiac (2007) ***

David Fincher's take on the infamous serial killer from San Francisco.

In The Valley Of Elah (2007) ***

Shrek The Third (2007) ***

The fun continues.

Black Snake Moan (2007) ***

"Black Snake Moan is the oddest, most peculiar movie I've seen about sex and race and redemption in the Deep South", wrote Roger Ebert. Not surprisingly, considering that he's referring to a movie in which Samuel L. Jackson chains a half-naked Christina Ricci to a radiator. What's more surprising is that the movie is actually about how Jackson and Ricci slowly become friends and come to love and respect each other. Written and directed by Craig Brewer (best known for his film debut, ''Hustler & Flow'', which won an Oscar for its song, ''It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"), ''Black Snake Moan'' begins with Christina Ricci in constant need of sexual gratification. For her, it's either getting fucked, or falling to the ground and writhing as if under attack by fire ants. So when Jackson finds her beaten and raped on the side of the road, and chains her to that radiator, his motives are actually very noble - the idea is to cure her nymphomania through a radical withdrawal treatment. "I aim to cure you of your wickedness," announces Jackson, who bravely resists the temptation when Ricci offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom. It is the performances that make this movie. According to Ebert, Samuel L. Jackson considers it his best film role ever (not an obvious boast for someone who played Gator in ''Jungle Fever'' and Jules in ''Pulp Fiction''), but as an article in Variety rightly points out, "it is Ricci who will be remembered when all else about the film has been forgotten (...) Ricci is clad in scanty cutoffs, panties, midriff-baring shirts at most and often less. Here she is a feral animal, a force of nature, a wild thing with a ferocious physicality and a sexuality like Vesuvius in its prime. Her Rae is Eros unplugged, unquenchable, inexhaustible. Fascinating, scary and entirely debauched, Rae is the sort of female creature who has been seen onscreen many times before, but rarely, or perhaps never, so bluntly portrayed in a Hollywood studio film".

Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) ***

The best "Die Hard" movie since the first "Die Hard" movie. "Yippy-Kay-Yay-Motherfucker".

Il Caimano (2007) ***

Great satire about Sylvio Berlusconi.

Away From Her (2007) ***

Touching drama about an elderly couple.

Secret Sunshine (2007) ***

It's A Free World (2007) ***

Excellent British drama about migrant workers in London.

Mongol (2007) ***

The childhood and early adulthood of Gengiz Khan.

12 (2007) ***

This Russian remake of "Twelve Angry Men" (1957) isn't as good as the original, but it has a much more surprising ending.

3:10 To Yuma (2007) ***

Excellent western starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

Fados (2007) ***

Superb musical film by Carlos Saura. It's the final part of his trilogy about Ibero-Latin music, after "Flamenco" (1995) and "Tango" (1998). This film is about fado music from Portugal.

The Orphanage (2007) ***

Excellent horror movie from Spain.

Caregiver (2007) ***

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Meet The Robinsons (2007) ***

Suprising Disney animated film, very different from their usual fare.

Chantal (2007) ***

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007) ***

The fifth ''Harry Potter'' film. Quite good.

The Babysitters (2007) ***

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) ***

Terrific action film, the best in the series.

Across The Universe (2007) ***

War (2007) ***

Mad Detective (2007) ***

Memorable police drama from Hong Kong. Directed by Johnnie To ("The Mission") and Wai Ka Fai ("Too Many Ways To Be Number One"), it's an ingenious, often hilarious mix of "The Sixth Sense" and "Training Day".

Superbad (2007) ***

Hairspray (2007) ***

Excellent remake of the classic 1988 John Water's musical set in Baltimore in 1962. John Travolta is terrific as Nikki's mother, a role previously played by the one-and-only Divine.

Odette Toulemonde (2007) ***

A very profound film about what's truly important in life.

Persepolis (2007) ***

Animated film about the experiences of a young Iranian girl who grew up during the Khomeini's revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, went to study in Austria, came back to her country ruled by the Islamic police, and finally left to live in France. A bit overrated, it's still an excellent and innovative film.

Enchanted (2007) ***

Amy Adams is absolutely enchanting in this excellent spoof of Disney's animated musical fairy-tales. Entertaining and clever, this film manages the neat trick of simultaneously ridiculing and celebrating the conventions of the genre. Mostly live-action, but the film includes long animated sequences as well.

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (2007) ***

Excellent IMAX animated documentary about fearsome prehistoric dinosaurs living under the sea. Length: 40 minutes.

Factory Girl (2007) ***

1n 1996, Mary Harron made a film called ''I Shot Andy Warhol'' about radical feminist Valerie Solanas’s attempted assassination of the famous artist in 1968. Eleven years later, George Hickenlooper made a film called ''Factory Girl'', set mostly in 1965, which essentially explains why Andy Warhol deserved to get shot. The film stars Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, the legendary New York socialite, model and actress, who had her Warholian 15-minutes of fame before dying of barbiturate overdose in 1971. She was 28 years old. The film doesn’t exactly accuse Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan of indirectly causing her death, but it comes fairly close. While Edie Sedgwick had other problems as well (among other things, she was sexually abused by her father since she was 8), according to the film, those two 60’s legends certainly didn’t help her at all to get over her demons. And while Bob Dylan isn't even identified by name, he has actually threatened a lawsuit against the movie. Stylistically, it's an impressive, if a bit conventional, effort. But what really makes this film great is Sienna Miller's courageous, fabulous and nuanced performance. Watch Edie Sedgwick's films like the brilliant ''Poor Little Rich Girl'' (1965) and the wretched ''Beauty #2'' (1965) to see just how accurate Sienna Miller's portrayal is.

La Graine et le mulet (2007) ***

Un Secret (2007) ***

Sans titre (2007) ***

Héros (2007) *

French film about an insane man kidnapping a celebrity.

La Naissance des pieuvres (2007) ***

Roman de gare (2007) **

Ingenious French film about ghost-writing and serial killers.

99 francs (2007) *