Throughout 2012 I found myself drawn more toward world cinema--particularly European films--and less to American ones. Reasons are numerous, among which the number of rote big-budget efforts, repeated from one movie to the next, totally predictable, with nothing to surprise viewers, let alone engage them. Full disclosure: I don’t live on the planet where audiences flock to the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" franchises, nor Pixar-created

2012--What a bad year it was for U.S. cinema, as far as quality goes. The films were lackluster enough to make me want to tear up my press card and train for the New York City marathon. Thankfully, I was able to weather this sticky storm of boredom by riding out the year in France, world capital of cinephilia and malodorous cheeses, where citizens can access seriously good cinema and evil brie-type concotions. Where did