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	<title>BeyondHollywood.com &#124; Movie News, Reviews, and Opinions &#187; French Movie Reviews</title>
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	<description>Hollywood, Indie, Asian, Foreign, Horror, and Genre Movie Reviews and News</description>
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		<title>The Piano Teacher (2001) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-piano-teacher-2001-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-piano-teacher-2001-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:29:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jacob</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=40551</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Love and violence may seem axiomatically opposed, but in the movies they share a common bond – they’re both difficult to depict on screen without attaching any sense of thrill to their meanings. And yet The Piano Teacher, a French film from director Michael Haneke, based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, depicts its love scenes as disturbing and awkward.
Isabelle Huppert plays Erika Kohut, a piano teacher whose competence is complemented by an icy, stone-faced self-control that merely hides violent and repressed sexual fantasies. The camera always seems to find her face, taking in her whole implacable being; it’s to her credit that her emotions still come across so easy and apparent. Erika has a kind of masculine confidence and certitude. Like a man, she strides aplomb into a porn shop, never concerned outwardly with how people come to regard her in the situation. She attempts to elicit control over her lovers, treating sexual encounters like a [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/banlieue-13-ultimatum-2009-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/banlieue-13-ultimatum-2009-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:41:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (2009) Movie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=29775</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s been three years since the events of “Banlieue 13”, and the more things change, the more they stay the same. Or gotten worst, actually. The wall that separates the slums of District 13 and the more civilized (i.e. less tattooed) populace of Paris has not been torn down as promised, and the alleyways are still choking with violent gangs, separated into different AK-toting factions. The residents of the slums have a ceasefire with the cops, but that’s about to change when a third party led by sleazy Government official Gassman (Daniel Duval) enters the picture, determined to instigate an all-out civil war designed to bring down District 13 once and for all.
It’s up to nomadic District 13 warrior Leito (David Belle) and supercop Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) to save the day. Of course, that’s just become a tad more difficult when a frame job puts Damien out of commission. Leito, meanwhile, comes into possession of an important piece of evidence [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Martyrs (2008) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/martyrs-2008-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/martyrs-2008-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 16:57:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Mudge</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horror Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horror Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Martyrs (2008) Movie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=32053</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As Hollywood horror slowly drowns in a mire of teen friendly remakes, over the last few years, it is arguably the French who have given genre addicts their much needed fixes, including such gruesome gems as “Switchblade Romance”, “Frontiers” and “Inside”. Following these comes “Martyrs”, from “House of Voices” writer director Pascal Laugier, which has been one of the most talked about horror films in years, gathering praise and shocked awe from festivals around the world. Controversial and challenging, it is easy to see why the film has been grabbing so much attention, though perhaps less easy to understand why it has apparently been picked up for a needless US makeover. The film now arrives on UK DVD via Optimum, and comes with several extras including a making of featurette and interviews with Laugier and make up artist Benoit Lestang. 
Without wishing to give away too much of the plot, the film begins as a 10 year old girl called [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Fear(s) of the Dark (2007) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/fears-of-the-dark-2007-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/fears-of-the-dark-2007-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:11:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Mudge</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fear(s) of the Dark (2007) Movie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=25025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[French black and white animation has been growing increasingly accomplished and popular of late through the likes of the science fiction themed “Renaissance” and the Oscar nominated “Persepolis”. Offering something a little different and far more disturbing is “Fear(s) of the Dark” (“Peur(s) du Noir”), a collection of shorts from noted animators and cartoonists Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti and Richard McGuire, edited together by Etienne Robial. Having enjoyed a successful run of festival screenings, including a well received showing at Sundance 2008, the film has now been issued on region 2 DVD via Metrodome. 
Clocking in at 82 minutes, the film basically consists of 6 interwoven brief pieces. The first of these is from Blutch, and is arguably the most disturbing of the bunch, a period set short following a depraved nobleman who strides through the countryside and villages, setting his vicious pack of hounds on the innocents who cross his path. Next from [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Renaissance (2006) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/renaissance-2006-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/renaissance-2006-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Oct 2006 06:16:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gopal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Animated Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=410</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As computer processing power has increased over the years, we&#8217;ve seen more and more creative integration of CGI into film. For the most part, the technology has been restricted to rendering ever more convincing F/X for sci-fi and fantasy films. However, over the past few years we&#8217;ve seen the technology being used as the very foundation upon which films are being created. Recent films such as &#8220;Sin City&#8221; and &#8220;Casshern&#8221; have shown us that it is possible to create worlds totally within a computer and have actors interact with them. The latest in this new technical sub-genre is the French production &#8220;Renaissance.&#8221;
&#8220;Renaissance&#8221; incorporates the latest revision of a technique called &#8216;rotoscoping,&#8217; whereby the movements of real actors are traced over with animation. This allows realistic motion to be overlaid with whatever the animator desires. The technique was most recently showcased in Richard Linklater&#8217;s &#8220;A Scanner Darkly,&#8221; but while &#8220;Darkly&#8221; employed a full color palate, &#8220;Renaissance&#8221; uses strictly black and white [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Empire of the Wolves (2005) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/empire-of-the-wolves-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/empire-of-the-wolves-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Jun 2006 06:01:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=7</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As is usually the case with movies that involves people trying to figure out who they are, and discovering that all they know was never real to begin with, the journey ends up being more exciting than the destination. Such was the case with &#8220;The Bourne Identity&#8221;, where following Bourne as he tries to uncover his identity was more intriguing than discovering that at the end of the rainbow was nothing more than another same-o same-o generic Evil CIA Plot. The only film that I can recall having a better post-Reveal is &#8220;The Matrix&#8221;, which managed to not only sustain the momentum generated in the first act, but actually excel.
Director Chris Nahon&#8217;s &#8220;Empire of the Wolves&#8221;, the follow-up to his &#8220;Kiss of the Dragon&#8221; (starring Jet Li), falls into step with &#8220;The Bourne Identity&#8221;, with a second half that is all sound, trumpets, and nearly incomprehensible fury. The film opens with French housewife Anna (Arly Jover) suffering from a bout [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Cache aka Hidden (2005) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/cache-aka-hidden-2005-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/cache-aka-hidden-2005-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Feb 2006 03:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Mudge</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1079</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Hidden&#8221; is the latest film from German auteur Michael Haneke, director of &#8220;Code Unknown&#8221; and &#8220;Funny Games&#8221;. The film has already garnered a multitude of awards, including the best director and Jury prizes at   Cannes   . This is perhaps unsurprising, as the film is a textbook example of European art house cinema, being perplexing and quite obviously more concerned with symbolism and enigmatic themes than with narrative. This is not to suggest that &#8220;Hidden&#8221; is a bad film, as it is cleverly directed, well acted, and for the most part quite gripping. However, Haneke as usual aims not to entertain or to tell a story, but to use and manipulate the cinematic medium to find meaning. As such, whilst the film is easy to admire, it is difficult to truly enjoy, and is in many ways a frustrating and unsatisfying experience.
The set up is deceptively simple, revolving around a Parisian couple, Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Malefique (2002) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/malefique-2002-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/malefique-2002-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Mudge</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horror Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=581</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[French horror has been enjoying somewhat of a revival over the last few years, with films such as &#8220;High Tension&#8221; and &#8220;In My Skin&#8221; enjoying international success. &#8220;Malefique&#8221; is another such slice of full blooded Gallic genre cinema which, though made back in 2002 is finally seeing the light of day. Rather than taking its cue from the vapid, teen-friendly horrors which still dominate   Hollywood   &#8217;s version of horror, &#8220;Malefique&#8221; is a distinctly adult affair, cruelly playing with the viewer&#8217;s imagination to produce an atmosphere of dark wonder and dread.
The film takes place in a grimy prison cell, whose newest inhabitant is Carrere (Gerald Laroche), a crooked businessman convicted of fraud and betrayed by his wife. His fellow inmates are Marcus (Clovis Cornillac), a psychotic drag queen, Daisy (Dimitri Rataud), a mentally retarded cannibal, and Lasalle (Philippe Laudenbach, also seen in the recent &#8220;Arsene Lupin&#8221; adaptation), a quiet, intellectual elderly man who killed his wife and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Banlieue 13 aka Suburb 13 (2004) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/banlieue-13-aka-suburb-13-2004-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/banlieue-13-aka-suburb-13-2004-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Jun 2005 05:33:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1631</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Leave it to Luc Besson, the man behind &#8220;La Femme Nikita&#8221; and &#8220;Leon&#8221;, to single-handedly keep the phrase &#8220;French action movie&#8221; a viable option. The prolific writer/director/producer has had his hands in almost every action movie that has come out of France in the last two decades or so, from the successful &#8220;Taxi&#8221; franchise to every Western film Jet Li has done in the last 5 years and change. Besson&#8217;s &#8220;Banlieue 13&#8243; (&#8221;Suburb 13&#8243;) is parts &#8220;Escape from New York&#8221; and a stunt demo reel for stars David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli; but most of all, Belle, who performs the film&#8217;s more death-defying moves with inspiring precision and ease.
In the mould of the Thai films by Tony Jaa or Jackie Chan&#8217;s earlier Hong Kong days, &#8220;Banlieue 13&#8243; is less a movie than it is a series of elaborately choreographed stunts tied together by a flimsy (at best) storyline. Title cards inform us that in the year 2010, France&#8217;s out of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Clean (2004) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/clean-2004-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/clean-2004-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jun 2005 06:48:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Mudge</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1040</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Clean&#8221; is a film best known for the remarkable central performance of actress Maggie Cheung, for which she won the top award at the 2004 Cannes film festival. Also of interest is the fact that it was directed by Oliver Assayas, to whom Cheung was married until the film was actually in production. Apparently, the split was amicable, which is just as well, as &#8220;Clean&#8221; comes across at times as a love letter from the director to the actress, focusing entirely on her character and seemingly written with the sole purpose of giving her the chance to demonstrate her thespian skills to the full.
Assayas is a director whose works have tended to divide critics, from his interesting and generally well-regarded film industry parody, &#8220;Irma Vep&#8221; (also starring Cheung) through to his last effort, the odd &#8220;Demonlover&#8221;, based around the production of adult &#8216;hentai&#8217; animation. His films have in common an air of authenticity and a determinedly realistic approach, which in [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Unleashed aka Danny the Dog (2005) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/unleashed-2005-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/unleashed-2005-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 May 2005 03:59:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gopal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Generally speaking, Jet Li&#8217;s western films have been hampered by indecision on the part of the filmmakers as to how to handle his onscreen persona. Since English is not Li&#8217;s first language, he is typically relegated to playing a stone-faced killer required only to beat the crap out of everyone he sees. Thus, I suspect that producers fear that Western audiences would have a hard time buying Li in a sensitive role. In &#8220;Unleashed&#8221; (aka &#8220;Danny the Dog&#8221; in Europe), Li plays yet another martial arts murder machine, but this time there&#8217;s a surprisingly competent story and a strong supporting cast to back him up.
Li plays Danny, an orphan raised as a personal attack &#8216;dog&#8217; by a Cockney loan shark he calls Uncle Bart (a menacing Bob Hoskins). Bart keeps Danny in a collar and locked inside a cage, and has trained Danny so that he&#8217;s docile while wearing a collar, but transforms into a whirling dervish of destruction when [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/kaena-the-prophecy-2003-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/kaena-the-prophecy-2003-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jan 2005 05:32:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Animated Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1237</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Truth be told, the only notable thing about &#8220;Kaena: The Prophecy&#8221;, which is hyped as the first French 3D animated film ever, is that American movie star Kirsten Dunst is the voice of the lead character, the titular Kaena. Which, by itself, brings some baggage, in particular the fact that everytime you hear Dunst&#8217;s voice you can&#8217;t help but wonder why Kaena isn&#8217;t blonde and spunky, but is instead brown-skinned, a little bald on the forehead, and walking around in a very revealing loin cloth. And let&#8217;s not even get into the fact that Kaena, as envisioned by the computer animators, have abnormally big breasts that, on a real human girl, would probably have caused some severe back problems by age 10. Kaena looks to be in her late teens. 
&#8220;Kaena&#8221; follows the adventures of young Kaena, a free-spirited girl who lives in the Axis, a sort of tree city surrounded by clouds. Kaena&#8217;s people, primitive humanoids who ranches and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Samurai aka Samourais (2002) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/samurai-2002-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/samurai-2002-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Dec 2004 05:21:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gopal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=267</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Generally speaking, blending genres is a good idea, and while it requires a delicate touch to pull off, when properly handled the result is a film that appeals to the viewer on several levels, as well as being more rewarding as a result of the blending. However, when handled in a ham-fisted fashion, the result is a lot like &#8220;Samurai,&#8221; an unsuccessful attempt to blend Japanese folklore, Hong Kong action and French offbeat style. The result is a jumbled and clumsy train-wreck of a film.
Directed by Chilean Giordano Gederlini, &#8220;Samurai&#8221; opens in feudal Japan, where a Samurai warrior is chasing his own pregnant daughter through a bamboo forest. Just as the Samurai is about to lop off his daughter&#8217;s head, a quartet of swordsmen appears and subdues the Samurai. At that moment, the girl gives birth. This is our first clue as to the quality of the film, because the baby is born wearing leather briefs and encased in what [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>In My Skin (2002) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/in-my-skin-2002-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/in-my-skin-2002-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Nov 2004 06:32:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1262</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cannibalism is a popular theme in lowbrow exploitation cinema, exemplified by films such as &#8220;Cannibal Holocaust&#8221; and &#8220;The Untold Story&#8221;, though the subject rarely rears its ugly head in more artistically and critically acceptable fare. The French film &#8220;In My Skin&#8221; is an odd beast in that whilst it is a decidedly art-house production, it gives the theme a bloody, existential twist, combining it with that of self harm, and coming up with the unique concept of auto cannibalism, the act of eating oneself. Obviously, this takes the proceedings into some fairly surreal, unpleasant territory, though director Marina de Van opts for the same clinical approach as Cronenberg&#8217;s early films of &#8216;body horror&#8217;, and though she includes some nauseating scenes, she eschews providing any explanations for the behaviour of her main character or indeed suggesting any kind of deeper meaning. 
Unfortunately that last statement proves to be both the film&#8217;s strength and weakness, as whilst it keeps things free of [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Immortel ad vitam (aka Immortal, 2004) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/immortel-ad-vitam-2004-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/immortel-ad-vitam-2004-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 31 Oct 2004 02:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gopal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sci-Fi Movie Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It seems like 2004 will be known as &#8216;The Year of the Virtual Movie Set.&#8217; &#8220;Immortel&#8221; is one of four films that are garnering notice this year for being almost entirely filmed on blue/green screen with the majority of the on-screen visuals added digitally in post production (the other three films being &#8220;Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow,&#8221; &#8220;Casshern&#8221; and the upcoming &#8220;Sin City&#8221;). While &#8220;Sky Captain&#8221; gained the most US media buzz, &#8220;Immortel&#8221; was, in fact, the first green-screen film to be released this year, followed by &#8220;Casshern&#8221; and then &#8220;Sky Captain&#8221; (&#8221;Sin City&#8221; is slated for a 2005 release). 
Based on several graphic novels and directed by French comic book artist Enki Bilal, &#8220;Immortel&#8221; is a strange mix of eclectic and disparate influences and cultural references. I&#8217;m personally not familiar with any of Bilal&#8217;s work, but from what I can tell from this film, he&#8217;s certainly got a vivid imagination. The look of the film is decidedly [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Secret Agents (2004) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/secret-agents-2004-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/secret-agents-2004-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 10 Oct 2004 21:53:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=242</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The French don&#8217;t generally do a lot of straight action movies, or if they do, you don&#8217;t hear a lot about them. &#8220;Crimson Rivers&#8221; (which starred &#8220;Secret Agents&#8217;&#8221; Vincent Cassel) was a stab at the popular serial killer genre, and in a way it succeeded &#8212; enough to warrant a sequel, anyway. &#8220;The Nest&#8221; was a full-tilt action film built around a Macguffin; it was an exhilarating gun&#8217;em&#8217;all&#8217;down flick. And now we have &#8220;Secret Agents&#8221;, a film about the world of French spies played by the real-life husband and wife team of Cassel and Monica Bellucci (&#8221;Malena&#8221;). 
Of course if you had told me that Monica Bellucci rarely smiles in the entire movie, I might have had second thoughts about watching it. The only thing worst than a beautiful woman you don&#8217;t have a snowball&#8217;s chance in Hell with is one that won&#8217;t, or doesn&#8217;t want to, smile. In &#8220;Secret Agents&#8221; the lovely Ms. Bellucci plays Lisa, a secret agent [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Dead End (2001) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/dead-end-2001-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/dead-end-2001-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2004 21:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horror Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horror Movie Reviews]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=722</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Dead End&#8221;, a French production by French filmmakers with an all-American cast, is all geared toward &#8220;getting&#8221; the audience with a slick Twist Ending. So, knowing that, your only recourse is to sit through the whole thing trying to piece together the evidence and outguess the filmmakers before they can pull the Big Reveal. Of course it helps if the film doesn&#8217;t cheat; which, unfortunately, &#8220;Dead End&#8221; does. The narrative leaves little room for outguessing the film, which depending on rather you&#8217;re the type of person who likes to try to figure out the ending (which I am) or not, will greatly affect how you respond to the Twist Ending. 
Ray Wise (&#8221;Jeepers Creepers 2&#8243;) stars as Frank, the patriarch of a bickering brood on a road trip to his mother-in-law&#8217;s for Christmas. In the car with Frank this long night is his wife Laura (Lin Shaye), son Richard, 20-something daughter Marion, and Marion&#8217;s boyfriend Brad. While everyone has dozed [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Fureur (2003) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/fureur-2003-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/fureur-2003-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Mar 2004 05:05:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Fureur&#8221; is one strange movie. It&#8217;s mostly in French, shot around the Chinatown community in France, and it counts among its cast members a variety of Asians, including but not limited to Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Burmese. And although the box cover will have you believe otherwise, it&#8217;s not really an action movie. Oh sure, there are some action, such as a boxing match to open the film and another boxing match toward the end, followed by a one-sided encounter on a rooftop to close things out. If anything, &#8220;Fureur&#8221; is a modern day Romeo and Juliet, with large helpings of tragedy but without the singing and Shakespeare quoting. 
Samuel Le Bihan (&#8221;Brotherhood of the Wolf&#8221;) stars as Raphael Ramirez, an ex-boxing champ who now trains his young brother Manu (Yann Tregouet) to take up the mantle. Fate intervenes when Tony (Bounsy Luang Phinith), Raphael&#8217;s ex-rival, returns to town to wed his reluctant fianc&#8217;e Chinh (Nan Yu). As soon as [...]]]></description>
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		<title>High Tension (2003) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/high-tension-2003-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/high-tension-2003-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2004 01:25:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=1121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The French Slasher movie &#8220;Haute Tension&#8221; has been re-titled &#8220;Switchblade Romance&#8221; for its North American release. Why? I don&#8217;t know. I suppose movie execs are talentless hacks rather they are in France or America. Certainly the thought of needlessly renaming a film is something right up these particular subspecies&#8217; alley. For the purpose of this review, the movie is &#8220;Haute Tension&#8221;, and that&#8217;s how it will stay. 
&#8220;Haute Tension&#8221; opens with a young woman in a hospital recounting the events that led to her being at said hospital. Flashback to a few days earlier, as college chums Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco) are on their way to stay with Alex&#8217;s parents in the countryside. The two plans to spend the time studying for upcoming tests, although it&#8217;s obvious Marie would rather study Alex instead. Later that night, a sociopath in yellow work overalls arrives at the house armed with a shaving razor and begins slaughtering the [...]]]></description>
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		<title>The Nest (2002) Movie Review</title>
		<link>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-nest-2002-movie-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-nest-2002-movie-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2003 04:33:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nix</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[European Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[French Movie Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.beyondhollywood.com/?p=865</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[2002&#8217;s &#8220;The Nest&#8221; probably surprised a lot of people, myself included, who didn&#8217;t think the general French movie industry was capable of producing anything other than films about how great it is to have sex all the time or how crappy and miserable the world is and we should all hang ourselves. Unfortunately for mainstream cinema lovers in the States, aside from the works of Luc Besson, France has offered little by way of mainstream entertainment. Of those that I have seen, &#8220;Riders&#8221; was pathetic and &#8220;Dobermann&#8221; was pointless. So what else is there? Enter Florent Emilio Siri. 
&#8220;The Nest&#8221; stars Nadia Fares as Laborie, the commanding officer of an elite police squad charged with delivering Albanian mob chieftain Nexhep (Angelo Infanti) to the proper authorities for trial. En route, Nexhep&#8217;s men intercept the caravan, but Laborie manages to save what&#8217;s left and take refuge in a storage warehouse. But they&#8217;re not alone: already in the warehouse is thief Santino [...]]]></description>
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