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Our annual tradition of Fantasy Double Features asks the year's Notebook contributors to pair something new with something old, with the only requirement being the films have to have been freshly seen this year.Part diary of memorable viewing during 2021, part creative prompt to think about how cinema's present speaks to its past (and vice versa), the 14th edition of our end of year poll weaves between theater-going and home-viewing so seamlessly as to suggest that early pandemic impediments from last year are now quite normal. Yet clearly that hasn't stopped us from watching, being delighted by, and thinking about movies, and the wonderful combinations below are testaments to the dynamic, idiosyncratic, and interactive vitality of moviegoing wherever and however its being practiced.CONTRIBUTORSJett Allen | Paul Attard | Jennifer Lynde Barker | Susana Bessa | Michael M. Bilandic | Ela Bittencourt | Johannes Black | Joshua Bogatin | Alex Broadwell | Celluloid Liberation Front | Lillian Crawford | Adrian Curry...

Nicolas Pariser, Alice Winocour, Melvil Poupaud, Mathieu Lamboley, uniFrance President Jean-Paul Salomé Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Melvil Poupaud walked the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema red carpet with The Great Game (Le Grand Jeu) director Nicolas Pariser, Disorder's Alice Winocour, Julie Delpy's Lolo composer Mathieu Lamboley, Bang Gang's Eva Husson, A Decent Man's Emmanuel Finkiel, John Waters, Cindy Sherman, James Ivory, Angélique Kidjo, Aurélia Thiérrée with Guillaume Nicloux and his Valley Of Love star Isabelle Huppert.

Joseph Paskin (André Dussollier) Pierre Blum (Melvil Poupaud)

Oscar Isaac in Jc Chandor's A Most Violent Year, Alain Delon in Valerio Zurlini's Indian Summer (Le Professeur), Benoît Jacquot's Closet Children (Les Enfants Du Placard), Marguerite Duras, Eric Rohmer, Xavier Dolan, Justine Triet, Fan Bingbing, and his Great Game co-stars Clémence Poésy and André Dussollier - these and more entered into a kind of Lacanian conversation with Melvil Poupaud at the Parker Meridien in New York.

Above: Pedro Costa's Horse Money

The Locarno Film Festival has announced their lineup for the 67th edition, taking place this August between the 6th and 16th. It speaks for itself, but, um, wow...

"Every film festival, be it small or large, claims to offer, if not an account of the state of things, then an updated map of the art form and the world it seeks to represent. This cartography should show both the major routes and the byways, along with essential places to visit and those that are more unusual. The Festival del film Locarno is no exception to the rule, and I think that looking through the program you will be able to distinguish the route map for this edition." — Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director

Above: Matías Piñeiro's The Princess of France

Concorso Internazionale (Official Competition)

A Blast (Syllas Tzoumerkas, Greece/Germany/Netherlands)

Alive (Jungbum Park, South Korea)

Horse Money (Pedro Costa,...

Italian actor-director to receive Excellence Award.

Italian actor and director Giancarlo Giannini is to attend the 67th Locarno Film Festival (Aug 6-16) as one of the guests of honour of the Titanus retrospective and will receive an Excellence Award Moët & Chandon.

Giannini will receive the honour on the Piazza Grande on Aug 12. As per Locarno tradition, the next day the Festival audience will have the opportunity to attend an “In Conversation” session with the actor at the Spazio Cinema (Forum).

A series of screenings will accompany this tribute. In addition to Non stuzzicate la zanzara and Indian Summer, screened as part of the Titanus retrospective, there will also be a screening of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Lili Marleen (1981) in his honour.

Locarno 2014 line-up

An Excellence Award is also being presented to Juliette Binoche this year.

Previous recipients of the Excellence Award include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Michel Piccoli, Toni Servillo, Isabelle Huppert, [link...

Pretty much the comic book Oscars, the 2012 nominations for the Eisner awards have been announced. There is quite are large showing from Marvel in the superhero department, not so much from DC. Surprising, considering the company’s high profile New 52 relaunch. Save for Jeff Lemire’s nomination for Best Writer, most of DC’s nomination are pre-relaunch, or from their Vertigo imprint which has been left untouched by the New 52. The nominations are usually as controversial as the Oscars, with books and whole companies being left out, much to fans, sometimes, anger and confusion.

A full list of the nominations are below, courtesy of Bleeding Cool, and the award will take place at this years San Diego Comic Con.

Best Short Story “A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture,” by Adrian Tomine, in Optic Nerve #12 (Drawn & Quarterly) “Harvest of Fear,” by Jim Woodring, in The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #17 (Bongo) “The Phototaker,...

As many of you may already know, each and every year, awards distributed at San Diego Comic Con to a few select (and noteworthy) nominees who are chosen by retailers and professionals in the comic book industry. The ceremony is better known as the Eisner Awards which is now heading into its 24th year with some great talent in the running. One of the most loved titles in this year’s nominee list is Marvel’s Daredevil, picking up 6 nominations that include Best Continuing Series, Best Single Issue, Best Writer (Mark Waid), Best Cover Artist (Marcos Martin), and Best Penciller/Inker Team Marcos Martin, and Paolo Rivera/Joe Rivera). DC also scored some decent recognition with their iZombie Vertigo series, gathering 3 nominations (Cover Art, Coloring, Inker/Penciller) for the creative team.

You can check out the full list of nominees below.

Eisner Award Nominees 2012

Best Short Story

“A Brief History...