Father Geek here, just in from my second screening of HANNIBAL, my first with an audience, the other was with only Quint and Tom Joad in the theater with me almost a week ago. And I stand by my 1st impression that it is a very very good film. I'm glad to see that Grozilla in his review below makes note of the FACT that more than simple "Cops & Robbers" this is a complex love story... Yes, Hannibal is a romance, a heavy duty one, but a romance none the less, and I think that curveball is what's throwing some of the viewers (critics among them) who are going in expecting some visceral non-stop thrill ride. Harry and I attended tonight's show with a young lady (mid-twenties)who loved it. My daughter's best friend since 6th grade (age 19) sat 4 people over from me on the third row, She loved it as did her 20-something date. Two late thirdy-ish well dressed guys and their wives were sitting behind me and from their comments afterward Father Geek can tell you they were very satisfied. As the End titles played out there was applause, at first hesitant, but then braver and continued. So folks Father Geek's advice?

Go see this motion picture, but first put the book out of your head along with those early scripts that leaked out. Wipe the slate clean, and prepare to witness a truely DIFFERENT kind of love story, one that will truely standup to the tests of time. Oh, this flick has its share of thrills, chills and kills, but just remember at its core there is much more than a "let's catch the bad guy" plotline.

EURO AICN

Hello folks,... Edgard here with our weekly window on European cinema... I have been quite busy at work this week, still I managed to see 3 films I reviewed here below : one American indie (ANIMAL FACTORY); and two French film (war drama HARRISON'S FLOWERS and blockbuster comedy LE PLACARD)... but before that we have our little news... BELPHEGOR, HANNIBAL, ASYLUM, HARRY POTTER... And keep your eye on this year's Festival of Cannes... this could be a great year with many very good films - at least supposedly good films... let's hope they will be, after I read so many negative reviews of ENEMY AT THE GATES after its showing in Berlin, it's hard not to worry a bit... And the news just arrived, the Cannes Festival jury's president will be Liv Ullmann (replacing Jodie Foster)... We will definitely follow that...

FRANCE

* Here's the link to the trailer of the upcoming BELPHEGOR (remember I reviewed the script that I didn't like much - but again I still don't know if it was the final version or not so we'll see; my review was Right Here. Thanks to MC who sent us this message :

Another good-looking french film is coming in April, called "Belphégor, Phantom of the Louvre" (starring Sophie Marceau, Julie Christie...), and I think you should check out the teaser we posted here: Just Click . After Brotherhood of the Wolves, it seems the genre films are coming back in our country...

Check also on the same website the trailer of LES MORSURES DE L'AUBE, another French flick, with vampires (and also with Asia Argento and Guillaume Canet from THE BEACH) that will be released in March here...

* Grozilla sent me last week his point of view on HANNIBAL (now breaking box-office records in the USA) : This afternoon the French press attended the first screening of "Hannibal". One of the most exciting thing was all those people aroused by the knowing of meeting again Dr Lecter but maybe more by the fact they knew quite nothing about the film. Apprently, just a few of us had seen the trailer... I’ve read on Corona’s Coming attractions that MGM didn’t allow people from online press to attend the screening. Well, two hours later I know why. "Hannibal" is a very amazing film, quite unexpectable for the "Silence of the lambs" fans. Maybe a bit more for those of "Manhunter", which shares with the Ridley Scott’s movie its unusual pace. "Hannibal" is a truly romantic film with pinches of darkness, just to remember itself what kind of movie the people went to see. Way far from the thriller awaited. And definitely not a blockbuster. And if it wasn’t for a bizarre McGuffin (the Mason Verger thing is quite useless. And by the way I’m sure the make-up crew is fond of this Preacher comic : look at the face they put on Gary Oldman and compare it with the Arseface character’s one...) it should be praised again and again. Of course I’m tempted to let you know the unbelievable final climax (you thought the boars ? Wrong !) but it would be betrayal to this daring film. I just can’t wait how audience will respond to this unique sequel... Hopkins & Scott will give the European press junket in Paris on friday...

* It's party time for French films at the box-office here : The top 3 is 100% French for once... Released with a big bang last wednesday is LA VERITE SI JE MENS 2 (see here below the Screendaily article) who's number one; followed by BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLVES (which is also doing very well with 2 millions tickets sold in its first week; it was reviewed last week) and LE PLACARD (more than 3 millions tickets sold in less than a month; review here below). From Screendaily : Warner Bros’ French outpost has scored its best opening day ever with a local film, La Verite Si Je Mens 2, which has also become the second biggest opener in French box office history, with 503,582 tickets sold on February 7.The sequel to the 1997 hit comedy, released on 827 prints, is on its way to becoming Warner Bros France’s biggest ever film, ahead of Dead Poets Society, which racked up 5.5 million admissions, and The Matrix, with 5 million. The original Verite also sold 5 million tickets. The record for France's biggest ever opener is held by another French film - the Luc Besson-produced Taxi 2 - which sold 802,000 tickets on its opening day on 836 prints (...).

* The next Festival de Cannes will take place from May 9th to 20th 2001. As you already know, Jodie Foster will finally not be the jury's president (as she took over Nicole Kidman in David Fincher's next PANIC ROOM). The president of the Jury will be another woman : norwegian actress/director Liv Ullmann. The selection is not official yet but French movie magazine is making some guesses on the possible films that we could see there, so here's the list...

- HUMAN NATURE (from Michel Gondry - first film of the videoclip director; with Patricia Arquette, Tim Robbins and Rosie Perez; and from a Charlie Kaufman script).

- LE FABULEUX DESTIN D'AMELIE POULAIN (the new and really much awaited film of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director of DELICATESSEN, CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and ALIEN : RESURRECTION; with Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Dominique Pinon and Jamel Debouze).

- VIDOCQ (from Pitof, one of the French top man in SFX, with Gerard Depardieu and Guillaume Canet; shot in digital with a big budget)

- L'ANGLAISE ET LE DUC (the new film of Eric Rohmer, about the French Revolution...)

- BLOW (from Ted Demme, with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, and drugs, lots of drugs...)

- LA CHAMBRE DES OFFICIERS (from François Dupeyron; about the post WW1)

- JE TE TUE (from Cedric Kahn, with Patrick Dell'Isola and Isild Le Besco, about an Italian killer who died in prison at 26)

- KARMAN GEI (from J. Gaye Ramaka, director from Senegal; a modern version of "Carmen" set in Dakar in the 21st century... that's now BTW)

- THE OTHERS (from Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar, with Nicole Kidman and produced by now her ex, Tom Cruise)

- THE PLEDGE (from Sean Penn; with Jack Nicholson, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright-Penn, Mickey Rourke, Sam Shepard and Benicio Del Toro)

- THE BARBER MOVIE (the new movie from - YESSSSSS ! - the Coen Brothers; in black & white, with Frances McDormand, Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Shalhoub... The Coen brother are ALWAYS in Cannes anyway)

- MULLHOLLAND DRIVE (from David Lynch; it looks like Lynch will get back to weirdness "à la" LOST HIGHWAY & Co. after his "nice" break of THE STRAIGHT STORY).

- LA PIANISTE (from Michael Haneke; with Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel, and probably a few piano's).

- LA STANZA DEL FIGLIO (from Nanni Moretti)

Remember these are only rumours and guesses, so don't book your ticket for Cannes yet (LOTR should also be present, probably not entirely but I could imagine that 30 minutes or so will be shown there)... we will let you know for sure when it'll be official. Meanwhile you can follow the news on the Cannes festival website at :http://www.festival-cannes.fr/

IRELAND

* Irish pop sensation Samantha Mumba is to star in the big budget remake of the HG Wells classic film "Time Machine". The 18 year old singer's manager confirmed that she would star in the film with Irish based actor Jeremy Irons, who lives in a refurbished Castle in Cork with his wife Sinead Cusack. Speaking to the Irish press Louis Walsh, Sam's manager said "There's been a huge reaction to her in the states and Stephen (Spielberg) is very happy with her..."

Full Story: Click Here

* Irish actor Liam Neeson is to star in the new film by Horror author Stephen King. King has adapted another writer's work for the screen for the first time and written the script for ASYLUM, based on Patrick McGrath's novel about an English mental institution where the superintendent's wife falls in love with a murderous patient...

Go here: Just Click (there's also a review of BOUNCE now available)

UK

* We receive the following message with some interesting updates concerning another awaited film : HARRY POTTER :

Hi, Andy Hagans here, webmaster of the Unofficial Harry Potter Movie Site, http://harry-potter-movies.net. I've got a bit of a smorgasboard here.

FILMING-principal photography is on the road for the final stint. Despite many sources stating that Gloucester cathedral is to be used as Hogwarts, filming is only there for a couple of days, Monday (2/5) and Tuesday (poss WEDS if things go at the usual snails pace). After that filming will be based in Bath for a week. Final wrap dates keep shifting back - already they have gone from end of Feb to end of March, with talk of a seperate shoot of Quiddich in June, because of all the effects shots needed for it.

CASTING-Additions to the cast list:Fred Weasley - James Phelps; George Weasley - Oliver Phelps; Percy Weasley - Chris Rankin (previously reported as Chris Rattling). Basically these people are unknowns (like almost all the students in the film.)

TRAILER UPDATE- Obviously, there was no trailer during the Super Bowl. But we have learned that a trailer IS in production.

The cast and crew of HPSS have been shown a trailer made for Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, probably only for sponsors. A lot of work has been put into the short preview. While it contains no SFX, as the production is nowhere near completion, it contains a lot of amazing scenes from principal photography, shots of the great hall, exteriors etc. Perhaps of biggest note is the fact that it has been scored by John Williams, who is doing the entire score for HArry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone.

Hope I've been some help to you!

Cheers,

Andy Hagans

* From www.empireonline.co.uk come some news on the future film production of Film Four : British movie company FilmFour has had a busy couple of months, signing up bestselling books to turn into blockbuster movies. In a press release issued yesterday, FilmFour's Chief Executive Paul Webster revealed five major new projects in pre-production. First up is Polly and Dingam, a story set in rural Australia about 'a young girl whose two imaginary friends turn her family’s world upside down.' Peter 'Full Monty' Cattaneo will direct. Then there's Eye of the Fox - which is less of a novel-turned-movie than an idea for a novel fleshed out into film form, based on a magazine article about an art dealer's relationship with Hollywood's A-list stars. 'It's Traffic with Paint,' FilmFour's head of Production, James Wilson explains - a summing up which is easily our favourite Player-style pitch of the year so far. Stephen Daldry will follow-up his all-star movie The Hours with The Hiding Room - a film based on Jonathan Wilson's novel about a love story between a British spy and a Jewish refugee in 1940's Cairo. And Ratcatcher's Lynne Ramsey will write and direct The Lovely Bones - in which a murdered teenage girl watches from heaven as her family is torn apart by her death. Last, but by no means least is Under The Skin, which will be directed by Jonathan Glazer - the man behind the recent critically-acclaimed release Sexy Beast. It's a sci-fi/horror story about 'a female creature who trolls the Scottish Highlands looking for males to abduct.' You couldn't make this up.

GERMANY

* Some additional news on the premiere of ENEMY AT THE GATES (opening the Berlin Festival), from the French website AlloCine" : It seems that the German press didn't like the movie very much. For them director Jean-Jacques Annaud fails to deliver a good movie because the script goes in too many directions. Some critics have also been made about all the stereotypes used in the film ("the German killer is cold and clean, he kills children; the Russian grew up with his grandfather and the wolves; Khrouchtchev drinks vodka..."). This is quite a sad news as the subject seemed good. We will all see in March as the film will be released then. And to know more about the Berlin Festival (ending on Feb. 18th) go to And Click

EDGARD'S REVIEWS

It has been a busy week... here below are the reviews of three very different films I saw, the 3 trailers are all available at www.premiere.fr

ANIMAL FACTORY (in French)

I will not really review this one, I just want to encourage you to see it... Second film directed by Steve Buscemi; ANIMAL FACTORY is a classic prison films with all the obliged scenes of the genre (gruesome murders, rape, shower scene, etc...). The cast is brilliant : Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong (certainly the most interesting actor of his generation) are the starring roles, with they're surrounded by great faces like Danny Trejo (showing like in HEAT that he can do much more than be mean); Tom Arnold (in a brief but good role), Mickey Rourke (amazing and almost unrecognizable) and Steve Buscemi himself... It tells the story of Decker - a young dealer (Furlong) from a rich family - sent to a hard prison (well I know, any prison is "hard" but you know what I mean). He meets there Copen (amazing Dafoe) who has been in prison most of his life and who decides to take Decker under his protection... Friendship and learning by experience of the prison rules follow...

If you like "prison films", you will like this one. This is nothing new, you feel like you saw that story 100 times before, but the actors - and director - manage to keep you interested. Beware, although the trailer seems to announce a very violent film, it is not that violent (so if you expect 90 minutes of rapes and murders, see something else). It's really a character film. It's in a way closer to SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (the friendship between two different persons) than OZ (weird fact : Buscemi directed one episode of OZ called "U.S. Male"). As I personally love both, it didn't matter. I know the film was presented straight on the American cable and shown in different festivals; so if you get the opportunity to see it... do not hesitate...

HARRISON'S FLOWERS (in French)

Okay... this is my favourite movie of the 3 reviewed here.. As it has a contemporary and political background, it will certainly divide the audience; but if you stick to the human story you should love it.

HARRISON'S FLOWERS is a French film directed by Elie Chouraqui, but it's in English with a marvellous cast : Andie MacDowell, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Elias Koteas and David Strathairn. We are in 1991. A "little" war begins in Yugoslavia. Harrison Lloyd, a brilliant photographer (Strathairn) is sent to take some pictures for Newsletter. A little while after he's declared dead in a bombing. While the world starts to understand that things are not so simple over there, Harrison's wife (MacDowell) refuses to accept his death and decides to go looking for him. There she meets other photographers (Brody, Gleeson and Koteas) and together they discover hell...

Ten years after the beginning of this terrible conflict - and now it's over (??) - you can expect more and more films on this war. There have been already a few (like Michael Winterbottom's WELCOME TO SARAJEVO), but to be honest I haven't seen any of these. The good thing here is that Chouraqui doesn't try to make a movie about the war itself, the film is really about that woman looking for her husband in a lost world, in a place where humanity (?) is at its worst. In other word, the same story could have been told in another situation. HARRISON'S FLOWERS is also about these photographers running accross the world's conflicts, wars and other disaster to bring us the terrible pictures we all like to look at. How can you do a job where you are watching daily people getting killed, raped, tortured... and yet you have to stay neutral ? The Yugoslavian war itself comes then third... And by being almost just a background to the story, Chouraqui manages to make it feel even more realistic. This is not about good guys and bad guys, Chouraqui is not trying here to make the "definitive" film on this conflict; this is about a country torn apart... a country that is less than 2 hours by plane from where I live... a country that doesn't exist anymore... a country where the worst took place and Sarah Lloyd is our witness. It's actually unusual for a French film to be so violent and powerful with images. Although Chouraqui keeps some things out of the frame (a group of children being killed by soldiers); you get to really taste all the horror of such a conflict. From the minute Sarah enters the country (in a rented car in Austria !) you get totally knocked out, hooked to your seat, for the rest of the film... It somehow reminded me of Oliver Stone's SALVADOR for the "in the face" shock you get while watching it.

As I wrote before, the cast is impressive. Especially Andie MacDowell as far as she can be from her "light" roles in movies such as GROUNDHOG DAY or MULTIPLICITY... here she's closer to her SHORT CUTS role as a mother and wife who'll do anything to get her family back together. She shows strength and distress with a great talent, and remind us if necessary how much she's underused in Hollywood. Kudos also to the 3 photographers... and more to Adrien Brody who has a difficult role (the selfish-yet-sensitive guy) and manages to be likeable.

Of course, some of you won't like it. Some of you will regret a real view of the war, with historical facts... Others will think Chouraqui didn't go far enough on the reflexion about journalism in wars... personally I don't think these themes are at the center here, so it didn't bother me. Maybe it will with you. I don't know if HARRISON'S FLOWERS will be released internationally, but as it's in English and with known actors I could guess it will... so don't miss it and let me know what you thought of it...

LE PLACARD (in French)

Francis Veber (who wrote and directed the film) is in France a master of comedy. Most of his films have been big successes here; and most of them have been remade in the USA. LA CHEVRE became PURE LUCK; LES COMPERES became FATHER'S DAY; LES FUGITIFS became THREE FUGITIVES (that he also directed himself); LE DINER DE CON (THE DINNER GAME) should soon become DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (for Dreamworks; with Kevin Kline and Steve Martin); and I wouldn't be surprised if LE PLACARD ("The Closet") will follow the same lead as the story is just an open door to many funny situations... The problem is that, like it's often the case, the American remakes do not make justice to Veber's talent for writing good comedies (even when, like in THREE FUGITIVES, he's himself in charge of it). So if you know French or if you don't mind subtitles, stick to the original versions...

Although Veber works every time on the same basis (a tough guy is confronted to a nice loser; he learns to like the guy, he learns to become more human while the nice loser appears not so loser after all), he always writes perfect stories with great dialogues. His movies are always perfectly structured around the characters (he has a reputation for being extremely demanding with actors - no improvisation allowed !); meaning his films always required talented actors giving great performances. On that point, LE PLACARD is in the good tradition of Veber's previous classic comedies...

LE PLACARD follows François Pignon (the nice loser played by Daniel Auteuil) as an accountant in a condom factory. Shy and unsecure, Pignon is seen by everyone as a "nobody"; boring and unsignificant... Even his ex-wife and teenage son won't talk to him... As he learns that he's about to get fired, Pignon decides to kill himself (also a tradition with Veber's characters). His new neighbour stops him and finds the perfect solution to keep his job : to make believe he's gay ! Not by changing his attitude, but just by sending an anonymous letter to the company with (fake) pictures of Pignon in a gay bar... If the plan works perfectly as the boss refuses to fire him (afraid of a discrimination law suit), things start to go crazy for Pignon as everybody starts to look at him differently... Women start being interested, some sees him as a pervert, his boss sees a marketing opportunity for his condom company, even his son thinks he's a hero...

As I wrote before, this is a perfect scenario that allows many funny situations... still LE PLACARD is not as funny as THE DINNER GAME... It seems that Veber choose to take the quiet road for this one. It makes you smile many times, but never laugh loudly. It's actually more cute than funny. And this is because it's more the situation that is funny than the main character. In the DINNER GAME you could laugh about the main character's stupidity; here Pignon is not stupid, just reserved and shy, and the fun is brought by all the characters surrounding him and by the way they see him. The funniest is of course Gerard Depardieu starting the film as a real macho like you meet too much in your street, making racist comments and stupid gay jokes, and learning to know - and care for - Pignon. Depardieu proves again why he's the perfect Obélix : in the same scene he can look totally primitive and sensitive... The good point in this story is that it's not about being gay, it's about the way you look at someone once you think they're different from what they appear to be. We are all doing that (who never said "I knew it" when informed about a big revelation concerning a neighbour or colleague ?). The fun thing here being that everybody is wrong as Pignon is not gay. It's no spoiler to say that Pignon will keep his job, get the girl, interest his son and become more confident about himself. It's actually a contemporary fable. Anyone will find a bit of her/himself in it. I personally regret that it was not more openly funny, but I can also guess that Veber avoided all the stereotypes surrounding "gay comedies"... which is already a good thing. Not the best comedy of the year, but still worth seeing it... before the American remake comes...

Edgard

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Well that's it for this week... hope you find here something interesting; don't forget to send us your reviews, news or comments in Paris at euroaicn@yahoo.com...