The 25 Best Movies of 2012 (So Far)

2012 has also blessed us with an unusually large number of notable films in its first six months. Here are the 25 Best Movies of 2012, released between January and June.  read more

Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazhar: Canadian Light

For Philippe Falardeau, the schoolyard is “a microcosm of society where everything happens.” The Canadian-born director has chosen this familiar setting for the Oscar-nominated drama Monsieur Lazhar.  read more

Exclusive: Watch a Clip from Monsieur Lazhar

One of our favorite films so far this year is Monsieur Lazhar, in which Bachir Lazhar (Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, goes to the school to offer his services as a substitute teacher. We're excited to provide this exclusive clip to Paste readers:  read more

Monsieur Lazhar

Director Philippe Falardeau’s new film, Monsieur Lazhar, presents various lives with seemingly few similarities forced to deal with tragedy in ways that are remarkably and movingly similar. At a French-Canadian school in Montreal, a teacher has just committed suicide in a classroom, traumatizing her highly impressionable and innocent students. Into her place steps Monsieur Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant who is recovering from an unspeakable personal calamity in his own recent past. Such a meeting of two disparate worlds, especially in a classroom setting, has been played out time and time again in film, often in the most clichéd manner. But...  read more