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Francis Ford Coppola reveals a list of 20 movies that he highly recommends you watch and show "appreciation to the pictures that inspired" him. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Coppola has directed movies such as The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now. Over a decade after his last film, the 85-year-old director's latest movie is Megalopolis, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is already fiercely divisive ahead of its theatrical release on September 27.

Ahead of Megalopolis' theatrical release, Francis Ford Coppola joined Letterboxd and created a list of 20 movies that he highly recommends. While not complete by any means, the list is simply 20 movies that he enjoys, have inspired him, and would recommend to any fan of cinema or aspiring filmmaker. Check out his list below:

French Cancan (1955) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933) Shanghai Express...

Megalopolis director Francis Ford Coppola has joined Letterboxd, the social cataloguing service where members can rate and review films and keep track of what they’ve watched. I’m a little addicted. Coppola has shared a list of twenty films that he would recommend to any cinephile or aspiring filmmaker, which you can check out below.

French Cancan (Jean Renoir) The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa) The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra) Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg) The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey) The Ladies Man (Jerry Lewis) The Burmese Harp (Kon Ichikawa) Tokyo Story (Yasujirō Ozu) The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau) The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg) Splendor in the Grass (Elia Kazan) Punch Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson) Empire of the Sun (Steven Spielberg) Sunrise (F.W. Murnau) Joyless Street (G.W. Pabst) A Place in the Sun (George Stevens) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese) After...

Piccoli worked with Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Buñuel, Jean Renoir and Alfred Hitchcock.

French actor Michel Piccoli, star of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 classic Contempt, has died aged 94.

His family confirmed the news to French media on Monday (May 18).

In a career spanning more than 70 years and 200 films, some of Piccoli’s other memorable roles included six films with Luis Buñuel including The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie and Belle de Jour, Jean Renoir’s French Cancan, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Doulos, Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz and five features with Claude Sautet.

Piccoli won the best actor prize at the 1980 Cannes Film...

Norma Doggett, the Broadway dancer who portrayed Martha, one of the lovely ladies in the classic 1954 Stanley Donen musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, has died. She was 94.

Doggett, a longtime resident of Forest Hills in New York, died May 4.

On Broadway, Doggett appeared in six musicals from 1948-59, working for Irving Berlin, Jerome Robbins, Moss Hart and Joshua Logan and serving as an understudy to the likes of Ethel Merman, Florence Henderson and Allyn McLerie.

Norma Doggett, the Broadway dancer who portrayed Martha, one of the lovely ladies in the classic 1954 Stanley Donen musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, has died. She was 94.

Doggett, a longtime resident of Forest Hills in New York, died May 4.

On Broadway, Doggett appeared in six musicals from 1948-59, working for Irving Berlin, Jerome Robbins, Moss Hart and Joshua Logan and serving as an understudy to the likes of Ethel Merman, Florence Henderson and Allyn McLerie.

Doggett had auditioned for Seven Brides choreographer Michael Kidd in 1953 for a job as Gwen Verdon's understudy in the Broadway musical Can-Can, and he remembered ...

HeyUGuys brings you the latest in World Cinema film trailers in association with Film Dates UK.

Each week we’ll be showcasing some of most anticipated foreign releases as well as highlighting a few hidden gems which may have fallen off your radar. It’s no surprise that Hollywood has turned to World Cinema for inspiration in recent years with the number of remakes getting more and more popular.

Whilst it remains to be seen how many of these remakes go on to succeed or stay true to their original story counterparts, we decided it was high-time we turned the spotlight onto the next wave of foreign films to grace our screens.

This week we have 2 new trailers for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (Reiton kyôju to eien no utahime) UK Cinema Release Date: Wednesday 3rd August 2011

Synopsis: Archeologist and avid puzzle solver Professor Layton...

Jean Renoir's 1955 film, now on re-release, shows a palette and compositional sense that appear to be influenced by his father

The world of the Moulin Rouge and the cancan conjured up in Jean Renoir's 1955 film, now on re-release, is very different from Baz Luhrmann's wacky 2001 entertainment. For a start, the proceedings take place in a brightly lit salle, not mysterious nightclub darkness. Renoir's palette and compositional sense appear to be influenced by his father, and his emphasis is on commerce, loans, box office, bailiffs and debt, rather than the sleazy allure of prostitution and the consequent fascination of artists. Jean Gabin's impresario Henri Deglard is a bullish, worldly optimist; his dalliances with leading ladies are a mere bagatelle, compared to his passion for his great, yet fickle love: the audience. Nini (Françoise Arnoul) is the young washerwoman whom Henri turns into a star, with an inspired...

This week on Film Weekly: Jason Solomons meets Dominic Cooper, star of The Devil's Double, which sees him play against himself. Lee Tamahori's thriller is loosely based on the real story of Iraqi Dr Latif Yahia al-Salihi, who was coerced into being the body double of Saddam Hussein's eldest son, the erratic and violent Uday Hussain.

Cooper, who is best known for his roles in fluffier fare (Mamma Mia, Tamara Drewe) tells Jason how he played both upright Latif and crazed Uday and explains how Tamahori created the illusion of the two characters on a small budget.

French director Gilles Paquet-Brenner enters the pod to talk about his adaptation of Tatiana de Rosnay's novel Elle s'appelait Sarah (Sarah's Key). The film involves a Paris-based American journalist, Julia Jaramond (Kirsten Scott-Thomas) who gradually uncovers the tragic history of the former residents of an apartment she's purchased.

Also, Xan...

Captain America: The First Avenger (12)

(Joe Johnston, 2011, Us) Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan. 124 mins

Unsurprisingly, this is the most patriotic of the summer's superhero movies, but there are few surprises all round. The story is largely what you'd imagine from the trailer: wimpy 1940s do-gooder undergoes a fast-track Charles Atlas course, then socks it to the evil über-Nazis. It's like Inglourious Basterds meets Indiana Jones, although the wholesome tone and white-bread heroism diminish the effects-driven spectacle, and the real second world war is reduced to mere set dressing.

Our Day Will Come (18)

(Romain Gavras, 2010, Fra) Vincent Cassel, Olivier Barthelemy, Justine Lerooy. 83 mins

Edgy provocateur alert! Expanding on the redhead persecution theme he developed in his Mia video, Gavras's debut follows ginger alienation to its conclusion, as Cassel and Barthelemy head out on the highway to oblivion, without a map or a ferry timetable.

Arrietty (U)

(Hiromasa Yonebayashi,...

A club impresario makes a laundry girl the star of his can-can revival show.

Re-released on a new digital print some 55 years after its original release, and now being given an extended run at the BFI and select cinemas from August, the legendary's French director Jean Renoir's French Cancan has never looked better.

Even viewers who don't enjoy 'dance movies', and might dislike tones of romantic whimsy and emotions painted in broad brush strokes, should be able to find many other facets to appreciate in Renoir's film. For this picture is a vivid technicolour medley that...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Watch Jean Renoir’s 1975 classic - French Cancan - today at Alliance Francaise as part of its June festival - Rediscover the Classics. The film tells the story of Henri Danglard, the proprietor of a cafe. He visits Montmarte where the then-old-fashioned dance form cancan is still performed. Danglard is inspired to revive it in more fashionable environments.On at: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi EstateStarts at: 5.30pmSeating on first come first serve basis ...

Declaration of War (Valérie Donzelli, France) — Opening Night, Critics' Week

It’s a love story, an action and war movie, where fantasy fights against a descent into hell. After La Reine des pommes (The Queen of Hearts), her first feature with a hint of Chaplin and French New Wave, Valérie Donzelli proves with La Guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War) that we were right to bet on her. The film is the hand-to-hand fight between a carefree couple – his name is Romeo (Jérémie Elkaïm), her name is Juliet (Valérie Donzelli) – and their son’s brain tumor. A declaration of war on this enduring illness, devouring cells, all kinds of cells and even family units. Donzelli films this moral and physical marathon (running, fainting, slipping from a French cancan to an open kiss, a tender version of the open bar) like a comedy. People sing like in The Queen of Hearts...

myfrenchfilms

Indian viewers can now enjoy a festival of French films on the internet for a small fee. The Unifrance agency, which promotes French cinema abroad, is breaking new ground internationally for it is organising the first edition of online fest MyFrenchFilmFestival from January 14-29.

The selected films can be viewed via video-on-demand for a charge of €1.99 (Rupees 120 approx.) per feature outside France (where the price is aligned with national VoD sites) with the exception of Latin America and Russia where access will be free. Pacs systems are also offered.

The films will be available in ten languages (German, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian; there will also be a Korean version on the website of partner KT) and the website includes film trailers and interviews with the directors and actors.

There are some top-quality flicks in the feature film selection, including Nassim Amaouche’s Goodbye Gary...

What is an auteur?

The question never goes away, does it? The director Irvin Kershner died last week, and I commemorated his passing by putting up some of my thoughts about his work up at my blog. I discussed a couple of pictures of his that I admired—The Luck of Ginger Coffey and Loving among them, mentioned the George-Lucas-produced elephant, and made an observation concerning the (to my mind) objectively pro-fascist content of RoboCop 2, which Kershner directed, and the seemingly not-fascist character and view of the man himself, which to me suggested a certain late-period disconnect between the director and his material, the sort of thing that is, or can be, interesting to note when making a career assessment or summing-up. The item solicited some comments, including one from the blogger who goes by the nom Flickhead, who had less admiration for even the ostensible high points of Kershner's...

My boyfriend's "The View"-loving mother brought this up when we were all out at dinner at a nice restaurant the other night, so since I had to hear about it -- who else wants to hear all about Whoopi Goldberg's "incontinence" problems? Anyone? Oh well, too bad! (Celebitchy)

Only the French can get away with blatant beej-related imagery to promote an anti-smoking campaign. (Agent Bedhead)

Tk posted this on my Facebook wall yesterday and I can't help but sharing it. Can you believe it's been twelve years since "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" started? Yeah, me neither. (The Onion)

Robery Pattinson regrets turning down the chance to audition for There Will Be Blood, which is inconsequential, because like he ever would have gotten it over Paul Dano anyway. (The Playlist)

Today in Whatever, Chloe Sevigny News, Chloe Sevigny thinks she's too "intimidating" to find a boyfriend. (Litelysalted)

Here's an...

Two years after his sudden death, what may turn out be Anthony Minghella's final work, Nine – an all-star musical about a director in dilemma – is about to appear. David Thomson hymns his friend 'Ant'

Nine will open wide in America on Christmas Day, and it is certain to be a major contender in the Oscar race. It is the movie version of the musical (book by Arthur Kopit, music by Maury Yeston) that opened on Broadway in 1982, with Raul Julia in the lead role of Guido Contini. In a New York revival, Antonio Banderas played Guido, and when it was given in a concert performance in London Jonathan Pryce played the lead. This is the movie, from the Weinstein Company, and everything has been upscaled. Beyond the astonishing female cast (more anon), it has Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido. There is a hint that in this version, Guido has been upgraded just a little,...