Lea Séydoux

DVD Review: Léa Seydoux Mesmerizes in Entrancing ‘Farewell, My Queen’

Farewell My Queen DVD

CHICAGO – Benoît Jacquot is a director clearly enraptured by the beauty of young women. This was eminently clear in his early ’90s-era vehicles for Virginie Ledoyen (“A Single Girl,” “Marianne”), an actress who turned up in his latest picture, “Farewell, My Queen,” still looking startlingly youthful. Yet she is no longer the center of Jacquot’s universe.

Film Review: Memorable ‘Sister’ Strikes Emotional Chords

CHICAGO – With a delicacy and melancholy reminiscent of the Dardennes brothers, Ursula Meier’s “Sister,” shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and opening tomorrow in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre, is a heartbreakingly effective piece of work about a boy forced to be a man by his circumstance.

Film Review: ‘Farewell, My Queen’ Paints Seductive Portrait of Encroaching Doom

Farewell My Queen Film Review

CHICAGO – Is there any actress in the world today with more seductive and transfixing eyes than Léa Seydoux? She often tilts her head in a direction that allows her to peer up from beneath lowered brows. Stanley Kubrick would loved to photograph her. Yet her radiant orbs are capable of conveying more than mere menace. She can appear frighteningly vulnerable and coldly calculating within the same take.

Blu-ray Review: Fantastic Release For Great ‘Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol’

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol Blu-ray

CHICAGO – I was lucky enough to attend a press screening of Brad Bird’s “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” at the IMAX theater at Navy Pier and I wondered if my adoration for this incredibly fun movie was in part due to just being overwhelmed by the size of it in IMAX. Nope. I liked it even more the second time on Blu-ray. This is a fantastic action movie, the best film in the series and as fun a time as you could have with a new release in the genre. Don’t rent it, buy it.

Blu-ray Review: ‘Mysteries of Lisbon’ Marks Final Triumph For Raúl Ruiz

Mysteries of Lisbon Blu-ray

CHICAGO – In many ways, 2011 was the year of startlingly successful throwbacks. Who could’ve guessed that Woody Allen, Tom Cruise and The Muppets would revive their crowd-pleasing appeal? How many moviegoing soothsayers predicted that Michel Hazanavicius’ melodrama, “The Artist,” would become an Oscar front-runner that proves the silent art form is far from dead?

Film Review: ‘Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ Rocks Your Holiday

CHICAGO – Brad Bird proves that he can make the leap from Pixar to action with one of the best genre films of the year, the adrenalized “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.”

Film Review: Woody Allen’s Charming ‘Midnight in Paris’ Delights

CHICAGO – Writer/director Woody Allen and the amazing cinematographer Darius Khondji (“Seven,” “The City of Lost Children”) very purposefully open their new film “Midnight in Paris” with a long series of static shots of the title city before even presenting a cast list. You see, Paris is a cast member in this film.

DVD Review: ‘The Beautiful Person’ Offers French Take on Teenage Drama

The Beautiful Person DVD

CHICAGO – Léa Seydoux is blessed with the sort of face that appears to convey a thousand different emotions without ever having to move a muscle. Her smile is beautiful but it almost feels like an intrusion, breaking the exquisite mystery of her passive, brooding expressions. Much has been written about her resemblance to Godard’s muse, Anna Karina, which perhaps inspired New Wave successor Christophe Honoré to direct her in this evocative drama.

Slideshow: 26-Image Gallery For ‘Robin Hood’ Premiere in Cannes With Russell Crowe

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Actress Danielle Spencer and Russell Crowe

CANNES, FRANCE – Wednesday night at the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival was reserved for an arrowing experience with the premiere of “Robin Hood.” Russell Crowe, who plays the legendary archer in director Ridley Scott’s new film, was on the red carpet.

Haunting ‘Lourdes’ Revels in the Poetry of Ambiguity

Lourdes
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 5.0/5.0
Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Most films about faith seem artistically limited by their spiritual subject matter. Some religiously devout filmmakers are so fixed in their beliefs that they lack the ability to perceive life with the complexity necessary to create resonant art. A perennial classic like Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” may have magnificent scope and spectacle, but it has all the dramatic depth and nuance of a Bible card.

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