Trailer: A Christmas Tale
Ordinarily I run screaming from movies about Christmas, but this one is different. Arnaud Desplechin (Kings and Queen) brings us Catherine Deneuve, her daughter Chiara Mastroianni, Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos in a French dysfunctional family Christmas.
A Christmas Tale (Un Conte de Noël) premiered at this year’s Cannes to good reviews. It can next be seen at AFI Fest in connection with an Arnaud Desplechin retrospective and it will begin its limited release in New York on November 14.
Filed under: Film Festivals, Trailers
Tags: A Christmas Tale, AFI Fest, Arnaud Desplechin, Catherine Deneuve, Chiarra Mastroianni, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Un Conte de Noel
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I just saw this trailer in front of Ashes of Time Redux the other night. Looks good. I love just about everyone in it, so I’m already won over.
Yeah, same here, definitely feeling the cast of this one.
I was surprised by the humor in it…I was expecting more drama for some reason…
Can’t wait for my turn to see this one on Tuesday night…
Speaking of “run[ning] screaming from movies about Christmas”… a confession….
I’m really looking forward to FOUR CHRISTMASES and I have no idea why… other than that I have a strange affinity for small doses of commercial representations of the holiday when I’m normally a scrooge: On Nov 28 in the early evening, I will go to Starbucks and get hot cocoa in a red cup with white snowflakes while Christmas music plays in the background and the room is superficially heated higher than usual, walk outside and look at the giant fake tree put up in front of my usual holiday multiplex, and go in and see Hollywood superficiality at its finest in a packed show of FOUR CHRISTMASES…
And that will be the extent of my Christmas cheer and I will like it. THIS CHRISTMAS did just the mediocre-trick last year and I’m counting on Witherspoon and Vaughn to up the anti. ;)
That being said–getting back on track–I think that A CHRISTMAS TALE looks like the type of thing that anybody will appreciate, like Craig said… affinity with Christmas or not… Long running-time, but I trust that it’s deserved until proven otherwise.
Saw this at VIFF at found it very dull. I didn’t seem to care about any of the characters. Tedious would be the one word I’d use to describe it. Most of the cast I have seen in other works, and enjoy immensely. This is a definite miss in my eyes.
Really wish I had liked it, as this one of a very few films I didn’t like this year.
Oh, come on Craig, for every… well, like 20 Christmas With the Cranks, there’s 1 A Christmas Story or Christmas Vacation. :)
I think it looks good. I’ll give anything A.O. Scott’s called “unadulterated joy” a go. Not that it’s likely to play here, of course. The perpetual caveat of jennybeeland.
Full Disclosure: I love the idea of Christmas and I love many of the trappings. I get misty eyed every year during A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love the book and the Chuck Jones version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I love having it cold outside and warm inside. I love an excuse to fill the house with candles and the spirit of giving and of good will. I love the spirit of the religion behind it all even if I don’t always appreciate the execution.
Having said all that, I hate the bald materialism. I hate movies that can skate by on their own mediocrity yet make stacks of cash because they promise to fill the emptiness said materialism leaves inside of every one of us every year. I hate how everyone seems to be cranky and uptight during the season.
Because of the latter, I also love Bad Santa.
Four Christmases might be a winner because of the cast. It’s on my Fantasy Moguls slate so I hope so.
Too bad you didn’t get into the Desplechin film Colleen. Was it not what you expected or was it just plain not your cup of tea?
JB, sometimes I wonder if access to movies and whatnot makes up for many of the hassles of living in Los Angeles. On balance, I guess it ads up in a favorable way or I’d move, but there are days when I wonder.
Danny, it sounds like I’ll see you Tuesday night…
I’m never cranky and uptight during the festive season.
Those are my two ABSOLUTE favourite times of year: the summer and Christmas.
Plus it’s also dreamy birthday time for me. Double dipping does wonders for your disposition.
My dear Mr. Kennedy, the first paragraph of your post amply illustrates why so many of us adore you.
Me especially…
You attempt to be all curmudgeonly and grumpy. But you have an exquisitely beautiful soul, my darling man.
Don’t know what I’d do without you.
Guess we’ll always be good friends…