Fests and events, 9/5.

Jean Gabin "came to Hollywood during World War II but, unlike countrymen Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer, failed to catch on with American audiences," writes Susan King in the Los Angeles Times. "Author Charles Zigman is hoping his massive two-volume biography of the actor, aptly titled World's Coolest Movie Star, will give Gabin the respect that has eluded him in the US. This weekend at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre, Zigman will autograph his book and introduce Gabin films which vividly demonstrate the breadth and depth of Gabin's talent."

Via Michael Jones, news of the full Fantastic Fest lineup. September 12 through 25.

With a week-long run of Shoot the Piano Player, Film Forum wraps its French Crime Wave series. The film "boldly set cheeky antics alongside downcast regret, darting chases next to chatty strolls, and grim art-house melodrama beside loosey-goosey hand-holding," writes Nicolas Rapold in the New York Sun. "It's hard to imagine who besides Truffaut could have pulled it all off, and made every moment so compulsively watchable as to induce instant cinematic nostalgia." More from Melissa Anderson in Time Out New York.

Updated through today: "Telluride 08."

Posted by dwhudson at September 5, 2008 2:49 PM