RivieraLife.tv Local Movie Listings

Movies appear in the order they are released with the most recent first. Nice Cinémathèque & occasional movies are at the foot of the page. For cinema location and contact info click on cinema name.

Screening daily at Les Arcades, Cannes; Wed, Fri & Tue 16.00/19.00/21.45; Thu 15.45/19.00; Sat & Sun 10.30/16.00/19.00/21.45

Screening daily at Cinéma Rialto, Nice; 13.45/15.50/17.55/20.00/22.10 + 11.10 Wed, Sat & Sun

Cinéma Casino, Vence; Wed & Mon 18.00; Fri 21.00; Sat 14.30; Sun 19.00; Tue 18.00/21.00

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Harrowing depiction of the American educational system features a superb performance by Adrien Brody - Adrien Brody, delivering his finest performance since The Pianist, plays the central role of the disaffected Henry Barthes. Henry’s latest gig is at an inner-city public school that is clearly falling apart. Its principal (Marcia Gay Harden) is about to be forced out due to abysmal test scores, the teachers and other staff members all seem to be floundering, and the vast majority of students display zero interest in learning. But the kids do respond positively to Henry’s stoic demeanor, his refusal to back down in the face of their taunts and his uncommon degree of empathy. Among those who blossom under his tutelage is Meredith (Betty Kaye, the director’s daughter), an emotionally fragile young woman who displays a genuine talent for photography. Frank Schek.

The Descendants - Comedy (2011) 1h55m

Screening daily at Cinéma Rialto, Nice; 13.40/15.50/17.55/20.00/22.10 + 11.00 Wed, Sat & Sun

Screening daily at Pathé-Massena, Nice; 11.15/14.15/16.55/19.30/22.15

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Majority of reviews Alexander Payne's dark comedy masterful in its writing, acting, and ability to draw in its audience - The film, co-written by NBC’s Community star, Jim Rash, stars George Clooney as Matt King, who comes from a wealthy family in Hawaii and who’s dealing with the loss of his comatose wife (Patricia Hastie) after a boating accident and must find a way to reconnect with their two daughters (played by Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller). The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy commends the film’s storytelling after seeing it screened at the Telluride Film Festival in Sept. and says, “George Clooney is in very top form in a film that will connect with any audience looking for a genuine human story.” He goes on to write, “A major key to the film’s success are the nuances, fluctuating attitudes, loaded looks and tonal inflections among the main characters; the ensemble work is terrific.”

Anonymous - Thriller (2011) 2h10m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Thu 14.00; Fri 15.30; Sun 21.40; Mon 15.50; Tue 21.15

Maison Pour Tous, Montauroux; Thu 18.00; Sun 20.45

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - A rousing but historically dubious conspiracy theory about who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays, enlivened by superb acting and Roland Emmerich’s most restrained direction ever. Lionized in Shakespeare in Love, the Bard takes one on the chin in Anonymous, a movie that portrays him as an illiterate buffoon, barely smart enough to fool Elizabeth’s London into thinking he actually wrote all those plays and sonnets. No indeed, in this movie young Will is a mere front for the noble Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, one of the more twisted characters in English history but, alas, a decent poet who has long had his adherents as the true author of Hamlet, et al. Of course, others line up behind Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Queen Elizabeth herself and perhaps even the stable boy at the Globe Theater. Anyone but Shakespeare! Kirk Honeycutt.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Mystery (2011) 2h38m

Screening daily at Les Arcades, Cannes; 16.10/21.15, exc. Thu 21.15 only.

Screening daily at Pathé-Massena, Nice; 10.50/14.10/17.30/21.15

Screening daily at Cinéma Le Royal, Toulon; Wed, Sat & Sun 13.30/20.50; Thu 16.10/20.50; Fri 13.30/21.00; Mon 16.05/20.55; Tue 13.30/20.55

Cinema Sporting, Monaco; Thu 14.30/21.00; Fri 16.00; Mon 21.00; Tue 14.30

Pathé Lingostière, Nice; Thu 20.50; Mon 14.05

L'Olbia, Hyères; Thu, Fri, Mon & Tue 19.35

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Fine American version of the literary sensation delivers everything except that something extra - In the end, there's not much extra even David Fincher can bring to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This fastidious, technically stellar Hollywood telling of one of the great literary sensations of recent times is highlighted by a bewitching performance from Rooney Mara as the punked-out computer research whiz Lisbeth Salander and remains an absorbing story, as it was on the page and in the 2009 Swedish screen version. Todd McCarthy.

J. Edgar - Biography (2011) 2h17m

Screening daily at Les Arcades, Cannes; 13.45/21.30

Screening daily at Cinéma Rialto, Nice; Wed 21.50; Thu, Fri, Mon & Tue 16.20/21.50; Sat & Sun 10.40/13.40/16.20/19.15/21.50

Screening daily at Cinéma Le Royal, Toulon; Wed & Sun 6.25/19.15; Thu & Sat 13.30/19.15; Fri 16.00/18.30; Mon 13.30/16.15; Tue 13.45/16.25

Cinema Sporting, Monaco; Thu, Mon & Tue 18.00; Fri 18.45; Sun 21.00

L'Olbia, Hyères; Thu & Mon 20.00

Pathé Lingostière, Nice; Thu 19.15; Mon 13.25

Le Casino, Antibes; Tue 20.30

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - A surprising collaboration that tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while serving up a simmeringly caustic view of its controversial subject's behavior, public and private - This surprising collaboration between director Clint Eastwood and Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black tackles its trickiest challenges with plausibility and good sense, while serving up a simmeringly caustic view of its controversial subject's behavior, public and private. Big-name talent behind and in front of the camera, led by a committed performance by Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, assures extensive media attention and public curiosity up to a point. But Warner Bros.' faces a significant commercial challenge in stirring the interest of younger audiences likely to regard J. Edgar Hoover as an irrelevant artifact of the bad old days or, most reductively, a hypocritical closet case. Todd McCarthy.

Take Shelter - Drama (2011) 2h00m

Screening daily at Cinéma Le Royal, Toulon; Wed & Tue 13.30/19.15; Thu & Mon 13.30/19.25; Fri 15.20/19.15; Sat 13.30/19.25/21.45; Sun 13.30/19.15/21.45

Les Arcades, Cannes; Thu, Fri, Mon & Tue 14.00; Sun 10.30

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 18.05; Fri 19.10; Sun 21.45; Mon 14.00

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - A riveting genre blend of thriller, domestic drama and supernatural horror propelled by a brilliant lead performance. With his sad-eyed intensity and a towering physicality almost like that of Frankenstein's monster, there's possibly no more mesmerizing American actor working in any medium today than Michael Shannon. His talents are put to exceptional use in writer-director Jeff Nichols' devastating Take Shelter. David Rooney.

Another Happy Day - Drama (2011) 1h59m

Screening daily at Les Arcades, Cannes; Wed, Fri & Tue 13.50/17.50/19.50; Thu 13.45/16.10/19.50; Sat & Sun 10.30/ 13.50/17.50/19.50; Mon 13.50/17.50

Screening daily at Pathé-Massena, Nice; 11.15/14.00/16.45/19.45/22.25

he Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Laugh-laced dark drama of family angst overcomes the hurdle of its wedding-weekend setting. Ellen Barkin plays Lynn, a mother who has made her share of missteps but wasn't dealt a great hand to begin with. Lynn comes very close to collapse (and gets in one actual catfight) while trying to wrangle two troubled sons and a disturbed daughter through an already stressful family event -- her third son, raised by Lynn's estranged husband (Thomas Haden Church, paired with Demi Moore), is getting married at Lynn's parents' Anapolis home. It's a scene promising fraught reunions and grudge-driven friction, particularly between the two women who call the groom "son."  John DeFore.

The Mill and the Cross - History (2011) 1h32m

Screening daily at Cinéma Le Royal, Toulon; Wed, Thu, Sat & Sun 15.45/19.00; Fri 13.30/16.25; Mon & Tue 15.45/ 19.05

Salle Henri Verneuil, La Valette-du-Var; Sat 18.00

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - This attempt to explore and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art falls flat - If ever a film cried out for the 3D treatment, it's The Mill & the Cross, an ambitious but frustratingly flat attempt to explore, analyze and dramatize a masterpiece of 16th-century art. The presence of stars Rutger Hauer, Michael York and Charlotte Rampling will pique some interest, and the highbrow concept -- plus some striking high-definition digital visuals -- will ensure festival exposure. But this Polish/Swedish co-production, set in what's now Belgium and with nearly all of the (often clunky) dialogue spoken in English, has too much of a stodgy Euro-pudding feel to make much dent commercially. Completed in 1564, The Way to Calvary - or Christ Carrying the Cross - - is recognized as a key achievement by Pieter Bruegel (Hauer), transplanting the crucifixion's prelude to the artist's own place and time. As with his better-known Fall of Icarus, he depicts a "world-changing event" as an everyday occurrence, which goes quite unnoticed by the crowd. Neil Young.

Sleeping Beauty - Drama (2011) 1h44m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Thu 15.55; Fri 21.15; Mon 16.05

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Soporific in every sense - Emily Browning stars in director-screenwriter Julia Leigh's debut feature about a young woman who goes into high-end prostitution. “You will go to sleep; you will wake up. It will be as if those hours never existed.” That quote from the Australian feature Sleeping Beauty is part of the job description of an emotionally detached young woman who drifts into high-end prostitution involving no actual sex. Regrettably, it could also describe the experience of watching the movie. David Rooney.

A Dangerous Method - Thriller (2011) 1h39m

Cinema Sporting, Monaco; Wed 18.30; Fri 14.00; Sun 18.45; Mon 14.00/18.00

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Thu 20.30; Mon 19.50; Tue 15.55

Le Cinéma, Châteauneuf de Grasse; Thu 20.30

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Precise, lucid and thrillingly disciplined, David Cronenberg's film about boundary-testing in the early days of psychoanalysis is brought to vivid life by the outstanding lead performances of Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender - “We have to go into uncharted territory,” the psychiatrist Carl Jung observes in regard to his own pioneering work, and the complex, fascinating topic of Jung's and Sigmund Freud's touchy relationship and eventual falling out over a beautiful, sexually hysterical patient has been grippingly explored by director David Cronenberg and writer Christopher Hampton in A Dangerous Method. Precise, lucid and thrillingly disciplined, this story of boundary-testing in the early days of psychoanalysis is brought to vivid life by the outstanding lead performances of Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender. Todd McCarthy.

The Guard - Comedy (2011) 1h36m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Thu 21.10; Mon 19.45; Tue 17.40

Le Cinéma, Le Luc; Sun 18.00; Mon 21.00

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - A notable directorial debut with good specialized commercial prospects - Clearly sharing the same artistic gene pool as his younger brother Martin, John Michael McDonagh makes a splashy directorial debut with The Guard. Scabrous, profane, violent, verbally adroit and very often hilarious, this twisted and exceptionally accomplished variation on the buddy-cop format is capped by a protean performance by Brendan Gleeson a defiantly iconoclastic Irish West Country policeman. Even though the narrative essentials and boisterous humor come through loud and clear, Yank audiences will have some trouble with the regional accents, making the addition of a few subtitles possibly advisable. But this cinematic equivalent of a shot of fine single malt will go down well with specialized audiences looking for something bracing and fresh. Todd McCarthy.

Hugo - Adventure (2011) 2h07m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 15.30; Sat 14.00; Sun 15.25; Tue 17.30

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - A fabulous and passionate love letter to the cinema and its preservation framed by the strenuous adventures of two orphans in 1930s Paris - A passionate brief for film preservation wrapped in a fanciful tale of childhood intrigue and adventure, Hugo dazzlingly conjoins the earliest days of cinema with the very latest big-screen technology. At once Martin Scorsese's least characteristic film and his most deeply felt, this opulent adaptation of Brian Selznick's extensively illustrated novel is ostensibly a children's and family film, albeit one that will play best to sophisticated kids and culturally inclined adults. Paramount has no choice but to go for broke by selling this most ingenious of 3D movies to the widest possible public, hoping that critical acclaim and novelty value will pique the curiosity of all audiences. All the same, it remains something of a tricky proposition commercially. Todd McCarthy.

Carnage - Comedy (2011) 1h19m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 14.00; Thu 16.30; Fri & Sun 14.00; Tue 19.45

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Roman Polanski's mastery of films within small spaces is evident in his adaptation of the Yasmina Reza play - Competition entry pitting two couples against each other fully delivers the laughs and savagery of the stage piece. Roman Polanski has often been at his best in close quarters -- the small yacht of Knife in the Water, the Warsaw ghetto of The Pianist, the house in The Ghost Writer, the apartments in Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant -- so it should be no surprise that he's right at home examining the venality of the human condition in the living room of the Brooklyn apartment that serves as the setting for Carnage. Snappy, nasty, deftly acted and perhaps the fastest paced film ever directed by a 78-year-old, this adaptation of Yasmina Reza's award-winning play God of Carnage fully delivers the laughs and savagery of the stage piece while entirely convincing as having been shot in New York, even though it was filmed in Paris for well-known reasons. Todd McCarthy.

Shame - Drama (2011) 1h41m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 17.50; Sat 15.35; Tue 21.35

Cinéma Marcel Pagnol, Cotignac; Wed & Mon 21.00

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Strong stuff on the sexual wild side from bold director Steve McQueen and the extraordinary Michael Fassbender - Director Steve McQueen's second feature film will stir audiences and critics with Michael Fassbender's scorching portrayal of a sex addict. Driven by a brilliant, ferocious performance by Michael Fassbender, Shame is a real walk on the wild side, a scorching look at a case of sexual addiction that’s as all-encompassing as a craving for drugs. Steve McQueen’s second feature, after his exceptional debut with Hunger in 2008, may ultimately prove too psychologically pat in confronting its subject’s problem, but its dramatic and stylistic prowess provides a cinematic jolt that is bracing to experience. This sexually raw film will stir considerable excitement among critics and serious audiences, making it an attractive proposition for an enterprising distributor in the wake of festival play in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York. Todd McCarthy.

The Lady - Biography (2011) 2h07m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 15.35; Thu 14.00; Sat 19.20; Sun 17.45; Mon 21.35

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - French action auteur Luc Besson shows few signs of being at home in this uncustomary genre - Luc Besson trades his usual muscular action and pumped-up visual style for a stately inspirational epic in The Lady, a biographical drama about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Prize winner who challenged the country’s oppressive regime. Presumably, Besson responded to something in the story that prompted him to step outside his comfort zone, but exactly what that was is unclear in this well-intentioned but pedestrian retelling of a stirring true story. David Rooney.

Drive - Action (2011) 1h40m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Wed 21.35; Fri 14.00; Sat 21.25; Tue 21.10

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - Tasty, if sketchy, modern noir with car chases and bloody action that should turn the trick for genre-seeking audiences. A spasmodically violent, creatively cast and off-center fast-cars-and-crime drama, Drive belongs to a rarified genre subset of stripped down, semi-arty and quasi-existentialist action films that includes Point Blank, Bullitt and The Driver. With Ryan Gosling ably incarnating a pent-up man of few words who goes to great lengths to make one positive gesture in a rotten world, Danish wunderkind Nicolas Winding Refn has fashioned an atmospheric and engaging glorified potboiler that nonetheless seems powered by a half-empty creative tank. Todd McCarthy.

The Help - Drama (2011) 2h26m

Cinéma Mercury, Nice; Thu 16.15; Fri 14.00; Mon 17.20

The Hollywood Reporter Review: The Bottom Line - This self-conscious and self-congratulatory portrait of the Jim Crow South does at least contain two magnificent, award-worthy performances by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer - In his first major studio production, The Help, writer-director Tate Taylor enters a minefield of sociological, historical and artistic booby traps. The setting is 1963 Jackson, Mississippi, where racial tensions simmer between African-American maids and their white employers at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Through cruel words and haughty gestures privileged white women communicate disdain for their black help while the maids seethe at the casual insults delivered almost daily. Kirk Honeycutt.

More VO Movies Screening on the Riviera This Week

Les Arcades, Cannes

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Thriller (2011) 2h07m  Dir: Tomas Alfredson  Starring: Colin Firth - Thu 19.30

Les Visiteurs du Soir, Valbonne

2001: A Space Odyssey - Sci-Fi (1968) 2h21m  Dir: Stanley Kubrick  Starring: Keir Dullea - Thu 20.30

Le Casino, Antibes

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Crime (2011) 2h09m  Dir: Guy Ritchie  Starring: Robert Downey Jr - Tue 20.30

Cinémathèque, Nice

Redacted - Comedy (2007) 1h30m  Dir: Brian De Palma  Starring: Patrick Carroll - Wed 18.30; Fri 21.30

Femme Fatale - Thriller (2002) 1h54m  Dir: Brian De Palma  Starring: Antonio Banderas - Thu 14.00; Fri 18.00

The Black Dahlia - Mystery (2006) 2h01m  Dir: Brian De Palma  Starring: Josh Hartnett - Thu 16.00; Sat 20.00

Mission to Mars - Sci-Fi (2000) 1h54m  Dir: Brian De Palma  Starring: Tim Robbins - Thu 20.00

The Beaver - Drama (2011) 1h31m  Dir: Jodie Foster  Starring: Mel Gibson - Fri 20.00

National Velvet - Drama (1944) 2h03m  Dir: Clarence Brown  Starring: Elizabeth Taylor - Tue 14.00

Giant - Western (1956) 3h21m  Dir: George Stevens  Starring: Elizabeth Taylor - Tue 16.15