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F is for France
Okay, so maybe American movies didn’t quite have the stellar showing that they did in 2007. (To be fair, we got lucky that year to get No Country for Old Men, There Will be Blood, I’m Not There and Zodiac at all, given the industry’s antiart climate.) France, on the other hand, took up the slack and provided a good deal of 2008’s high points, ranging from the popular (Tell No One, which has been playing in local theaters since July) to the esoteric (the antiwar musical La France). French directors also reestablished a stronghold in New York Cineplexes: Elder statesmen Jacques Rivette weighed in with The Duchess of Langeais (see R), Laurent Cantet returned to form with The Class, and next-gen auteur Abdel Kechiche made good on the promise of his early work (see The Secret of the Grain by any means necessary). Vive la France!

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