Ladj Ly's debut feature film Les Misérables is less musical than its name suggests... It's a tense little gang thriller set in the modern-day Montfermeil district of Paris, where Victor Hugo's classic novel 'Les Misérables' was written, whose explosive third act feels wholly original and timely.
Tag: film
This year, the Prague French Film Festival boasts a number of titles with both Czech AND English subtitles. From competition films like Cannes hit comedy On a Magical Night to Ladj Ly's visceral Parisian gang thriller Les Misérables, and a retrospective on French auteur Henri-Georges Clouzot. Prague based cinemas Kino Lucerna, Kino Svetozor, Kino 35 and Edison Filmhub will host the festival from November 20th - 27th.
Doctor Sleep is probably the most perplexing Hollywood remake/reboot/sequel of the year. Although Stephen King's source material is strong, engaging and even creepy at times, along with Mike Flanagan's visual flair for the gothic and grim, it buckles under the heavy half-assed attempts to bring back characters (and certain locations) from The Shining.
Terminator: Dark Fate is probably the first Terminator film since Terminator 2 to (sort of) do the originals justice. Compared to James Cameron's iconic films, it's not that great, but compared to all the other sequels and reboots, including 2015's disastrous Terminator: Genisys, it's a pretty decent blockbuster and boasts the return of one of the franchise's most lovable characters...
This year, Czech Republic's queer film festival Mezipatra will celebrate its 20th anniversary from November 7th - 14th with a wonderfully diverse programme carefully selected in line with this year's theme 'Winds of Change' - a focus on the persistence and drive one must have to bring continuous change to a world that is still far from perfect. Check out this year's festival trailer by Jay Walker.
Maleficent returns in a sequel that attempts some big ideas relating to violence and terrorism but crumbles a bit when it inevitably caves into being 'just another kids movie'. All in all though, it was invigorating to see two equally ambiguous female villains go head to head.
Original 'Hellboy' Ron Perlman will be one of the esteemed guests at Prague's very first Comic-Con taking place next February, according to ČTK.
