Paris, Je t'Aime (2006) - Short film anthology playground set in Paris

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An intimate back alley moment makes up this sensually blue poster for 21 directors' Paris, Je t'Aime

The film presents 18 short films set in the City of Lights, Paris: Of romance in spite of cultural differences, random violence, the heart of the city, mimes who meet in prison, - and much more.

Paris, Je t'Aime is written by Nadine Eïd (Eki (2022, TV-series)), Paul Mayeda Berges (Bride & Prejudice (2004)), Gena Rowlands (The Skeleton Key (2005, actress)), Gabrielle Keng (Disorder (1986, costume assistant), Rain Li (Habit (2021, cinematographer)) and its 21 co-writer/directors, based on an idea by Tristan Carné (La Chanson de l'Année (2019-22)). The co-writer/directors are: Gus Van Sant (Elephant (2003)), Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run/Lola Rennt (1998)), Daniela Thomas (Vazante (2017)), Nobuhiro Suwa (H Story (2001)), Oliver Schmitz (Amokspiel (2018, TV movie)), Walter Salles (On the Road (2012)), Bruno Podalydès (Chocolat (2016)), Alexander Payne (Sideways (2009)), Vincenzo Natali (Westworld (2016-18)), Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You (2007)), Christopher Doyle (Warsaw Dark (2008)), Gérard Depardieu (The Bridge/Un Pont Entre Deux Rives (1999)), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity (2013)), Wes Craven (Scream (1996)), Isabel Coixet (Elisa & Marcela/Elisa y Marcela (2019, VoD)), Ethan and Joel Coen (A Serious Man (2009)), Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist/L'Illusionniste (2010)), Gurinder Chadha (Beecham House (2019, TV-series)), Frédéric Auburtin (Volpone (2003, TV movie)) and Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep (2022, miniseries)). The original French title (also used in English-speaking countries) translates to, 'Paris I love you'.

As a film this is something of a mishmash, and several of the segments lack clarity, - for instance Depardieu's otherwise sparklingly cast story, which actors Rowlads, Ben Gazzara (The Shore (2006)) and Depardieu himself nevertheless fail to bring to life.

But there are also fine moments: The mime story by Chomet is delightful, and the idea to base a story around mimes is spot-on for a Paris anthology. Tykwer's story (about a blind man) is technically astute; Payne's segment, starring the peerless Margot Martindale (August: Osage County (2013)), is the best in the film. Most curious is the completely unmotivated vampire story starring Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) by Natali.

The executive producers have obviously given the directors a wide degree of creative freedom, which brings both good and bad things forth here. Lovers of the city of Paris and short films should find ample reasons to appreciate Paris, Je t'Aime.

 

Related post:

 

New York, I Love You (2008) - Some wonderful moments elevate uneven anthology 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 13 mil. $

Box office: 17.4 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.33 times its cost)

[Paris, Je t'Aime premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place in Paris from November 2005 - ?. Two stories were shot but cut out of the finished film. These were directed by Christoffer Boe and Raphaël Nadjari. The film opened #50 to a 39k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 200 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.8 mil. $ (27.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 2.8 mil. $ (16.1 %) and Germany with 1.3 mil. $ (7.5 %). The film inspired similarly titled anthologies for New York (2008), Rio (2014) and Berlin (2019). Paris, Je t'Aime is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Paris, Je t'Aime?

The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984) - Craven's embarrassing train wreck sequel

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A multi-colored, über-cool poster for Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes Part II

 

A kind of motorcycle gang of young, braindead lunatics end up in the middle of the desert, in which two equally motorcycle-enthusiastic killer mutants are awaiting...

 

The Hills Have Eyes Part II is written and directed by great Ohioan filmmaker Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left (1972)) as a sequel to his The Hills Have Eyes (1977).

Does the plot above sound silly to you? Then you are correct. It is in a way impressive, how Craven here, - directly prior to his big breakthrough A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), - has collected such a comparatively untalented lot around him for this his second desert horror. (Though the film was apparently also marred by lack of funds.)

In The Hills Have Eyes Part II the young die, but their deaths are sometimes out there. Even so the film remains somewhat entertaining in a train wreck sort-of-way.

 

Related posts:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat 

My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs! (co-writer)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!  

Watch the first 3 minutes of the film from a VHS recording here

 

Cost: Estimated 700k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Hills Have Eyes Part II premiered at Mystfest in June (Italy) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 1983 in California, including in Los Angeles. The studio halted production due to budgetary fear. But once A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was released to huge success, the studio convinced Craven to scrap together The Hills Have Eyes Part II from the footage shot. In order to boost the running time, sequences from The Hills Have Eyes were used. Details about the film's gross are regrettably not readily available online. Craven since disowned the film. The The Hills Have Eyes films were remade with the same title in 2006 and 2007. Craven returned with Chiller (1985, TV movie), The Magical World of Disney (1986, TV-series) and theatrically with Deadly Friend (1986). 10k+ Rotten Tomatoes users have given The Hills Have Eyes Part II a 2.2/5 average rating.]

What do you think of The Hills Have Eyes Part II?

My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher

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The simple, water color-manipulated poster for Wes Craven's My Soul to Take

The little society of Riverton has a tragic past: 7 people were killed by the 'Riverton Ripper' 16 years ago. - On the same night 7 births took place there! Now, 16 years later, (figure; 1 + 6 is also 7, gasp!), a new maniac naturally runs amok!

My Soul to Take is deftly written and directed by great Ohioan filmmaker Wes Craven (Scream (1996)), his first film as writer-director-co-producer since New Nightmare (1994). The film wallows in youth group mechanisms, popularity anguish and homo-erotically charged scenes. It is ridden with heavy Catholic guilt, shame, child-raising discipline and other such elements often utilized, (from Craven's own childhood experience 'catalogue'). All of this content is regrettably not pushed very far. It gets combined with an editing concept that tries to befit the text-messaging generation as well as violent but essentially not very affecting murders, which bogs down My Soul to Take, a film that seems too courteous and a little dull.

Related reviews:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep! 

Lead Max Thieriot (Bates Motel (2013-17)) takes direction from Craven in this fine behind-the-scenes still

Thieriot gives an interview about the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 20.9 mil. $
= Huge flop
[My Soul to Take was released October 8 and runs 107 minutes. Filming took place in Massachusetts and Connecticut from April - June 2008 with reshoots in June 2009. Craven's wife Iya Labunka served as one of the film's producers for her first time. It was shot in 2D but converted to 3D in post. The film opened #5 (behind The Social Network, Life As We Know It, Secretariat and Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole) to a 6.8 first weekend in North America, where the film only played for 4 weeks and grossed 14.7 mil. $ (70.3 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 4.2 mil. $ (20.1 %) and Greece with 0.38 mil. $ (1.8 %). My Soul to Take is rotten at 9 % with a 2.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of My Soul to Take?

Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistable slasher treat

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The cool  poster for Wes Craven's Scream 4

Eleven years have passed since the events of Scream 3 (2000), and Sidney Prescott has found a new life for herself and written a book about her bloody experiences. But as she returns to Woodsboro on her book tour, a new series of gruesome murders begins by the hands of two new Ghostfaced killers.

A good 10 years of cooling off was apparently just what the Scream franchise needed since the vapid last film. Horror maestro Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)) is back here, directing a Kevin Williams (Scream (1996)) script. And Scream 4 is easily the series' next best entry, only bested by the original Scream.
This reboot is rife with raw energy, kills, humor and new stars (SPOILER that all die.) It looks great, shot by Peter Deming (Drag Me to Hell (2009)), lighted in a more rough design than the earlier films that suits this new update of the Scream universe.
The fresh, exciting stars, many of whom suffer gruesome, inventive deaths, include: Emma Roberts (We're the Millers (2013)), Marielle Jaffe (Locked Away (2010)), Hayden Panettiere (Nashville (2012-16)), Erik Knudsen (Beastly (2011)), Nico Tortorella (Odd Thomas (2013)), Anthony Anderson (Bound (2013)), Mary McDonnell (Donnie Darko (2011)) and Rory Culkin (You Can Count On Me (2000)). Neve Campbell (The Company (2003)), David Arquette (Eight Legged Freaks (2002)) and Courtney Cox (Cougar Town (2009-15)) are all back, and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)) and Anna Paquin (The Piano (1993)) appear in cameos in an entertaining opening scene.
The only minus about Scream 4 SPOILER is that the murderer feels the need to over-explain the fatalities in the end.
But Scream 4 is still a brilliant slasher and a deserved return to form for Craven, who hasn't directed since, - and might have quietly retired with Scream 4?

Related posts:
 
Wes Craven: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 97.1 mil. $
= Minor flop
[Scream 4 opened #2 to 19.3 mil. $ in North America, where it grossed 38.1 mil. $ (39 % of the total gross). It made an additional 4.1 mil. $ from video sales in the US. Its performance is by many considered disappointing, although producer Harvey Weinstein has said that he was happy with the gross of the film, (which has accrued more profits via streaming and thru other channels.) But a 5th and 6th film, talked about prior to the release of Scream 4, have not materialized. - Instead, we're getting a Scream TV-series!]

What do you think of Scream 4?

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!

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Something vicious lurks in the shadows of sleep on this neat, painted poster for Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street

I really love this film and definitely consider it better than the just reviewed American Graffiti.

Teenager Nancy and her friends find themselves in mortal danger due to the deceased neighborhood child molester Freddy Krueger, who steals them away in their nightmares.

The original Elm Street is the 7th theatrical feature from great Ohioan writer/director Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left (1972)). It has ultra-cool practical effects, Robert Englund's (I Want to Be a Soldier (2010)) charismatic, diabolical performance as Krueger, sweet girl Heather Langenkamp (The Demolitionist (1995)) as iconic final girl Nancy, Ronee Blakley's (She Came to the Valley (1979)) memorable turn as her souped-up mother, the always competent John Saxon (Killing Obsession (1994)) as her father and a very young, very delectable Johnny Depp (Lucky Them (2013)) as an ill-fated youth in his movie debut.
The central idea of getting offed by your nightmares is very scary and evocative, and Craven made this film an outstanding and marvelously entertaining classic for every fan of horror.

Related posts:

Wes Craven: 2011 in films - according to Film Excess Scream 4 (2011) - Craven & Williams serve an irresistible slasher treat
My Soul to Take (2010) - Craven returns with a subpar teen slasher
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs
Remake: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Another terrible remake of a horror classic 

 

Watch a short TV ad for the movie here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: 25.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned at least 14.16 times the cost)
[A Nightmare on Elm Street premiered in October (West Germany) and runs 91 minutes. Craven based his idea on reports about male South East Asian refugees in America in the 1970s, who were dying in their sleep from extreme nightmares, while basing Freddy Krueger on his childhood bully. The prospect was rejected by major studios except for fledgling distributor New Line Cinema, who went into production with Nightmare, which solidified the company immensely. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from June - July 1984. 500 gallons of fake blood were used. Jsu Garcia (Traffic (2000)), who plays Rod Lane (as Nick Corri), had recently been homeless and took heroine during filming. Craven and New Line leader Robert Shaye disagreed on the ending, which made Craven reject making the first sequel. The film opened #10 to an 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it later peaked at #2 in its only week in the top 5, behind holdover hit Beverly Hills Cop. The foreign grosses are not made public, but the film must have made at least 30-35 mil. $ in total. Craven returned with Chiller (1985, TV movie) and an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1986) and theatrically with Deadly Friend (1986). Langenkamp returned in Nickel Mountain (1984), Englund in V (1984-85), Hollywood Beat (1985, TV-series) and theatrically in the first Nightmare sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985). A Nightmare on Elm Street is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street?

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) or, Your Kids and the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs!

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The promising, very 1980s styled and expectations-raising poster for Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Nightmare teen murderer Freddy Krueger's backstory as "the bastard son of 100 maniacs!" is revealed, as Nancy and other youngsters in a mental hospital near the Elm Street neighborhood battle the wicked evil again.

This entertaining second sequel to Wes Craven's (Shocker (1989)) slasher horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) marks the feature debut of great Illinoisan filmmaker Chuck Russell (Eraser (1996)). It is written by Craven, Russell, Bruce Wagner (Maps to the Stars (2014)) and Frank Darabont (The Fly II (1989)).
John Saxon (Magnum, P.I. (1984), TV-series), Zsa Zsa Gabor (Moulin Rouge (1952)) and Laurence Fishburne (Contagion (2011)) cast some stardust on Dream Warriors along with Patricia Arquette (True Romance (1993)) in her screen debut. The film is loaded with inventive horror like Kruger's syringe fingers (responsible for an effective ban of the movie in Queensland, Australia!), contorted faces in his stomach and the concluding bone fight. Unfortunately for the film, the sound, lighting, sets and acting all have a kind of studio artificiality to them, and the story about the kids in the asylum runs out of steam at times. Also, I suspect parts of it to be derivative of novelist Stephen King's (Pet Sematary (1983)) It (1986).

Related posts:

The Elm Street franchise: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Another terrible remake of a horror classic
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) or, Don't Fall Asleep!
Chuck Russell: Eraser (1996) - Great Arnold action!

Listen to some of Angelo Badalamenti's (Auto Focus (2002)) score for the film here

Cost: 4.5 mil. $
Box office: 44.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned more than 9.93 times its cost)
[A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors was released 27 February (North America) and runs 96 minutes. Craven was not keen on his original film turning into a franchise, and his idea for a sequel was to have Krueger breaking through to the real world (our world) and invading another movie production about his murders. The studio vetoed this, which was picked up later and made as Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), the 7th in the franchise. Suicidal elements of the script were cut out. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #1 to a great 8.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 3 more weeks in the top 5 (#3-#3-#5). It was the 24th highest-grossing film of the year and New Line Cinema's biggest moneymaker of the year. In the original franchise (before 2010's awful remake), it ranks as the 3rd highest-grossing, following Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988). The ban on the film in Queensland, Australia lasted until 1990, when the Queensland Film Board of Review was abolished. Russell returned with The Blob (1988). Heather Langenkamp (Nickel Mountain (1984)) returned in 3 TV and video credits before she returned to big screens as 'victim' in Shocker (1989); Robert Englund (Fear Clinic (2009, TV-series)) returned in 4 TV and video credits before A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988). A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is fresh at 74 % with a 6.03/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors?