Punditries

Most Recent Art House Films Viewed What do the ratings mean?

The Trials Of Henry Kissinger Documentary: an exploration of the supposed "crimes" of Henry Kissinger while he was National Security Adviser and Secretary of State for Nixon and Ford. The "trial" consists of a bunch of interviews with supposed experts on Kissinger. Though it makes a weak attempt to seem "balanced" (Kissinger himself appears through clips that were not intended for the movie), the film is more of an indictment of Kissinger than a trial. Perhaps the filmmakers did not look harder than Alexander Haig for witnesses to defend Kissinger; Haig unwittingly scores more points for the prosecution than for Kissinger. Still, the film provides disturbing and damning evidence that Kissinger indeed quarterbacked US involvement in some horrible events in Cambodia, Chile, and Indonesia. Is Henry Kissinger, America's most famous foreign policy figure, no better than Slobodan Milosevic?

Igby Goes Down What an amazingly powerful film! Although it seems like yet another teenager-comes-of-age story, this one is brilliantly acted and written. Igby (Kieran Culkin) is an upper-middle-class kid living near New York; he gets bored with school and his overbearing mother and ditches school for New York City, where he hangs out with an assortment of wacky characters. In the process, does he figure out some things about life? Perhaps. Culkin is great and so is the supporting cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, and Susan Surandon. The movie is not upbeat, sometimes intense and not always very pleasant to watch, but it's a knock-out. (Ignore comparisons to the film "Rushmore", another great film; "Igby" is really nothing like it.)

The Piano Teacher (In French with English Subtitles) A lonely, self-hating woman piano teacher (Isabelle Huppert) with some nasty sexual hangups meets a young, handsome student (Benont Magimel) who forces her to confront some of her inner demons. Since it's not a Hollywood film, don't expect a Hollywood story - this is a somber, unsentimental, painfully honest portrayal of an empty woman, and it's certainly not a love story. The film is kinda slow at 130 minutes, but in a way, the pace of the story sort of fits the character. Beware of the graphic violent and sexual nature of this film - it would certainly be NC-17 if rated in the US.

Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexico - In Spanish with English Subtitles) Y Tu Mama Tambien ("And Your Mother, Too") is a road movie concerning two 17-year-old middle-class Mexican guys, Julio and Tenoch - best friends - who somehow go on a road trip with a beautiful "older" woman, Luisa, who teaches the immature, horny boys about life and sex. This film has a nice sweetness to it that is unfortunately nearly ruined by an intrusive narration, which chimes in from time to time with a heavy-handed (and often irrelevant) social commentary about Mexican life. The ending is a little jumbled as well. The sex in this film is fairly explicit, and there is some serious (mostly male) frontal nudity.
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Kissing Jessica Stein Jessica, a copy editor in New York City, can't seem to hook up with a guy she likes. On a whim she answers Helen's ad in the personals; should she "experiment" with women? How will Jessica's Jewish family accept this? This is a light, intelligent, but forgettable comedy, a crowd-pleaser that you will probably enjoy if you are hip on girl-girl relationships.
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Taliesin Jones Decent performances can't save this dull story about a kid in Wales who, inspired by his healing piano teacher (Ian Bannen), develops a faith in god and miracles despite the cynicism of friends and family. You keep expecting this film to blossom into something charming and touching, but it just fizzles, with almost no spark or charm. It's really little more than a simple parable about believing in god.

The Lawless Heart (British) Bittersweet drama: three men in a small town in England experience new love and new pain trigged by the death of Stuart, a loved one. We see the story of Stuart's brother-in-law, Stuart's boyfriend, and his cousin. Each man's story is told separately, so the same events are repeated each time. This well-acted drama is peppered with occasional humor.

Novocaine A dentist (Steve Martin) engaged to his hygenist (Laura Dern) is tempted by a trampy pillpopping babe (Helena Bonham Carter). But is our dentist also a murderer? A clever idea for a film, but the characters aren't fleshed out (so to speak), and the ending is kind of cheesy. In a way this is kind of a parody of whodunnit mysteries with lots of twists. Part of the effect seems to be the over-the-top suspense music played through the film that, quite frankly, is annoying as hell.
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Waking Life Richard Linklater's recent film - live action that was turned into animation - following a young man apparently stuck in a dream; in this dream, he meets and talks to countless people, who go on endlessly about the nature and meaning of life, right out of some Beatnick coffee house. Still, the monologues have some amusing turns, and the animation technique is unique and - well, amazing, though it's unclear whether it added much impact to the story.
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Ghost World Enid (Thora Birch) graduates from high school to alienation as she finds she doesn't fit into modern society. She happens onto an unlikely friendship with the older, geeky Seymour (Steve Buscemi) who also seems to live in an earlier era. Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb") directed and co-wrote the script with Daniel Clowes, on whose comic series the film is based. Zwigoff's spare, documentary style will seems familiar to fans of "Crumb". Buscemi is terrific, but isn't he always?
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Made Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn try to recapture the magic of their pairing in the film "Swingers" in this sort of "buddy mob comedy", but sadly it fails. Favreau wrote and directed this lame story of two buddies, totally unfit for a life of crime, who nonetheless get recruited to help with a mob job. The main source of intended comedy seems to be Vaughn's so-annoying-it's-supposed-to-be-hilarious antics as the intept of the two - but Vaughn is more annoying than funny. A much funnier take on this type of film (roughly) is Wes Anderson's "Bottle Rocket". Just skip "Made" and rent "Swingers" again.
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The Princess And The Warrior (In German with subtitles) Tom Tykwer, fresh off the success of "Run Lola Run", wrote and directed this beautifully-filmed but confusing mess of a action-soap-opera, about a nurse a psychiatric ward (Franka Potente who is the "princess") who crosses paths with a mysteriously grieving thug (Benno Furmann). The film starts out promisingly enough but then gets heavy-handed and confusing, taking forever to make simple dramatic points. Someone hire this man an editor!
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Signs And Wonders Quite an interesting hodge-podge of a story, following the break-up of a couple (Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling) after he has an affair. He just can't get over it and tries to win her back. Weird plot twists near the end will leave you scratching your head.
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The Deep End A "soccer mom" (Tilda Swinton) goes to extraordinary lengths to protect her college-bound son (Jonathan Tucker) from being implicated in a crime, to the point where when you think, "What else could go wrong?",...guess what? Unfortunately, the story is full of implausibilities, to the point where you need a VERY sturdy "willing suspension of disbelief" to get through it.
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Thomas In Love (French with English subtitles) Sometime in the not-too-distant future, Thomas suffers from agoraphobia (fear of being outside), and he hasn't been out of his apartment or seen anyone face-to-face in years. He keeps in touch with the world via a video phone, through which his mother and psychologist try to influence his life when he's not having virtual-reality sex. We never see Thomas' face - all we see is what he sees on his screen. Though not groundbreaking, this is an interesting film more about codependence and fear than about virtual reality.

Sexy Beast Gal (Ray Winstone) is a retired British thug living in Spain is put upon by a scary mob leader, Don (Ben Kingsley), to do one last job. Gal doesn't want to do it, but Don is really, really, really persistent. The film has some amusingly dark moments but too much slow-motion photography makes the film seem over-stylized. Though the robbery premise is clever, it's mostly postscript to what is really an acting vehicle for Kingsley, who is, of course, fun to watch.
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Under The Sand (In French, mostly, with subtitles) Terrific portrait of inner torment, with Marie (Charlotte Rampling), unable to deal with the disapperance and likely death of her husband in a beach accident, sleepwalking through her life in denial. Great performance by Rampling.
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Hedwig And The Angry Inch FINALLY a truly excellent film in 2001! This is the twisted story of Hedwig, an East German refugee transsexual who winds up in America headlining a glamrock bar band jealous of the Big Star who stole all her songs and broke her heart. Based on a musical in New York of the same name - and often hilarious, even if sometimes heartbreaking. Think "Spinal Tap" meets "David Bowie" meets...uh, East German Transsexual. :-)
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e-dreams Similar to "Startup.com", "e-dreams" is the documentary story of the rise and fall of the Dot-Com company Kozmo.com. Though less intimate with regards to the personalities involved than is "Startup.com", the film is still an interesting portrait of one of the more well-known Dot-Com failures.

Center of the World A lonely "Dot Com Millionare" likes to go to strip clubs, where he takes a liking to one of the dancers and invites her to go to Vegas with him for a few days for $10,000. Can she go without falling in love? Shot on video by Wayne Wang ("Smoke", "Blue in the Face"), the film has some interesting scenes but is ultimately a bit slow and not a particularly intriguing story - nor are the characters special. The film has a low-budget, low-key feel to it - not sure that it works very well.
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Startup.com A documentary about a startup company formed during the "Dot Com Era" by two 28-year-old ex-high school buddies. The filmmakers had unusual intimate access to the proceedings from the very beginnings through the big success followed by the big crash. A very informative study of what went wrong during that era.
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Amores Perros (See Review) (Mexico - with subtitles) The stories of three sets of people involved in a car accident.
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You Can Count On Me A sister and brother (Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo) struggle with their adult relationship years after their parents' fatal car accident. Sammy (Linney) lives in the small town where they grew up, raising her son (Rory Culkin) alone and working at the local bank. The younger Terry (Ruffalo) has been drifting around getting in trouble, but when he comes home to beg Sammy for money, they must deal with their relationship. This is a terrific, well-written story with dynamic characters and great performances by Linney and Ruffalo, among others. Compare this to the overly-dramatic "Pay It Forward", with Helen Hunt playing a role similar to Linney's, and "You Can Count On Me" appears to be a much fresher, more satisfying, original story. Matthew Broderick throws in a nice supporting role as Sammy's bank boss.
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Pollock Ed Harris stars in and directs the story of Jackson Pollock, the gifted but troubled American painter. It's a tragic story - a well-made drama but not particularly special or outstanding as a film. You might check it out particularly if you are interested in art or in Pollock in particular - or if you love Ed Harris, who is always worth watching.
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Billy Elliot Well-made story of a young boy's triumph over prejudice. In a little British mining town in the mid-80's, 11-year-old Billy wants to dance instead of box in school, but he must overcome his family's belief that dancing isn't for boys. Meanwhile, the miners are striking. A nice, feel-good film, if you like those, yet it's less polished than typical Hollywood product.
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With A Friend Like Harry (French with English subtitles) Good suspense flick about Michel, a struggling family man, with a wife and three kids and not much money. On the way with his family to their run-down summer home, Michel runs into Harry, an old high school classmate who is wealthy and won't leave him alone. Harry gets more odd the more we get to know him, as he sort of haunts everyone at the summer home. Some will find this a slow film, even if somewhat in the Hitchcock style, but what's great about it is the very non-Hollywood ending.
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Slick kung fu movie with Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat in a story about legendary warriors and a magical sword. Amazing "flying" fight scenes and better-than-average story and acting for this kind of film.
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State and Main From David Mamet: a movie crew invades a New England town; the crew and the townspeople have various encounters, plus the Hollywood people are basically a bunch of idiots. Nice low-key story with excellent performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman (again!), William H. Macy, and others. Not outstanding, just witty and intelligent.
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Chocolat Polished, light morality tale about a French village (but everyone speaks English) invaded by a strong, free-thinking woman, Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her teenager daughter (Victorie Thrivisol). Vianne sets up a candy store on the eve of Lent; she upsets the local religious leadership but attracts the town outcasts. It comes down to a struggle between the will of Vianne and her 20th century morality and Old Ways (guess who wins?), but it rarely gets very intense. From Lasse Hallstrom, the director of "The Cider House Rules". Probably an appealing comedy/drama to folks who like crowd-pleasing artsy films.

The Girl Next Door Documentary about housewife-turned-pornstar Stacey Valentine. It's a softball documentary that ignores some of the key issues about the porn industry (e.g. drug use). But it is an interesting look inside that world. And the graphic footage of Valentine's plastic surgeries is powerful. Entertaining at least.

Requiem For A Dream Intense, disturbing film about drug addiction. "If you play with drugs, you'll go to hell," is the message here. However, it's much more personal and involving than a drug propoganda film, plus it's filled with innovative techniques to suck you into the story and make you experience what the characters are seeing and feeling. Probably a few too many film school triks but still a very effective film that will at least upset you, at best make you think about drug use in a far different light.
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Best in Show The latest mockumentary from Christopher Guest ("Waiting for Guffman"; writer/star of "This is Spinal Tap"). This one concerns a bunch of nutty people obsessed with having their dogs win an upcoming dog show. Parker Posey, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Fred Willard, and Guest star, much in the same vein as "Guffman". As usual, Guest carves out a fun niche for himself as a fisherman from a North Carolina town with a great accent.
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The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack Documentary about "Ramblin'" Jack Elliot, the legendary folk singer often overshadowed by Woody Guthrie (his mentor) and Bob Dylan (whom Elliot mentored). The film was directed by Elliot's daugther, and her struggle to understand her dad is a big part of the film, as she often interviews him on-camera. Good film - obviously much more personal than the average documentary.

The Woman Chaser Man, how do describe this odd film? In late 1950's/ early 60's Los Angeles, the owner of a used car lot (Patrick Warburton) fantasizes about becoming a movie director. It's shot in black and white somewhat in the style of the time, though the film has many absurdist elements more appropriate to a European art movie. Nicely done.

Love and Sex A woman (Famke Janssen) tries to write a magazine story about love based on her romantic experiences (notably Jon Favreau). Kind of like "High Fidelity" from a woman's point of view. It's intelligent and funny but pretty forgettable.

The Tao of Steve Quirky, fresh, but simple comedy about a slacker guy, Dex (Donal Logue) with a big gut who still manages to pick up women. Dex likes to brag about his philosophy of dating - what he calls "The Tao of Steve" (learning to behave like the cool "Steves" of history, like Steve Austin and Steve McQueen). But soon Dex meets a woman who wrecks his system...
Not an awesome comedy, but still one of the best of 2000. If its distributor had any brains, they would go wide with this film - but instead American audiences will have crap like "The Crew" shoved down their throats.

Wonderland Drama about humorless people living in London over one trying weekend. The numerous characters are linked by three sisters who have various problems. The film is shot mostly hand-held and with low lighting, giving the film that "gritty documentary feel". Decent film, OK performances, nothing special.

The Opportunists A very personal caper film - with Christopher Walken as an ex-con trying to do the right thing but always short of money. Of course, he can't resist the temptation to get back in the game. A slow, deliberate film that works solely on the basis of Walken's screen presence. Cyndi Lauper has a small role.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye Really good documentary about Tammy Faye, who America got to know over her years as a televangelist and scandal survivor. Tammy is a fascinating, and the film is quite entertaining.

Saving Grace Yet another British lighthearted comedy with a morally-incorrect theme. "Waking Ned Devine" was about a town cheating the lottery; "The Full Monty" was about unattractive male strippers. "Saving Grace" is about a broke widow (Brenda Blethyn) who resorts to selling Marijuana to pay her debts. If you enjoyed both of the previous films you're likely to enjoy this one as well. Written by and starring Craig Ferguson ("The Big Tease").

But I'm a Cheerleader! A pretty teenage cheerleader seems to have lesbian tendencies - so her conservative parents have her committed to a sort of hetro reeducation camp. The movie takes a sarcastic pro-gay stance, making great fun of religous zelots' efforts to "cure" homosexuality. Sometimes this simple film is funny as hell.

Chuck and Buck Surprising little indie film about Buck, an adult male obsessed with reunititing with his childhood male friend, Chuck, who has long since moved away to a busy career in LA. Some gay themes here in what is a terrific story with wonderfully understated performances. Don't let the low production values (video) scare you away - this is one of the unsung gems of the year.

Jesus' Son "Trainspotting" meets "Midnight Cowboy" - the story of FH (Billy Crudup), a kindly post-hippie deadbeat and drug user roaming around the US in the early 70's. The film is bleak and rarely very engrossing, and Crudup is merely adequate; his voiceovers really detract from the film, however. Samantha Morton is quite good as FH's girlfriend. Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Black have small roles that are little more than extended cameos; Black's contribution is by far the best of the three.

Sunshine The story of grandfather/father/son, three Jews living in Hungary during the worst struggles of Europe's 20th Century. Ralph Fiennes plays all three men - a judge who participates in World War I, his son a world-class fencing champion who is dragged into the horrors of World War II, and his son, an investigator for the Communist Hungarian government. Each man's life is told in a single one-hour episode (thus a three-hour film). Each man must make a compromise to further his life/career but all must later face the consequences. The film is an interesting drama (very roughly in the same structure as "Antonia's Line"), with lots of sometimes graphic sex, and more than anything an acting showcase for the talented Fiennes. This is a Hungarian film, but nearly all the dialogue is in English.

Butterfly (Spanish with subtitles) A young boy bonds with his teacher, a kindly old man, just before the Spanish Civil War in the mid-30's. It's a simple, beautifully filmed, moving story with some laughs.

Croupier Dark story of a cynical wanna-be author, Jack (Clive Owen), who takes a job in a casino as a croupier - a card dealer, basically. His aim is to write a book about his experience in the gaming industry, but he meets some seedy characters along the way who might derail him. Very tight, well-constructed film.
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The Virgin Suicides Errie, melancholic mid-70's story of five young sisters - who commit suicide. It's a portrait of detatched suburbia, with well-meaning but incompetent parents (well played by James Woods and Kathleen Turner) unable to cope with their kids. The film has kind of a dreamy quality to it, with the narrators (neighborhood boys looking back as adults) struggling to understand what happened to these girls. Despite the "Why did they do it?" premise, there's something unconvincing about the whole thing.

Winter Sleepers (German with English subtitles) From the director of "Run Lola Run" - a story about how seemingly minor events have big impacts on the lives of people at a German ski resort. Interesting stuff, except that the story never really converges at the end as you might expect. Not fast-paced like "Lola" - much slower and deliberate.

Time Code Gimmicky film (by director Mike Figgis) about an affair at a Hollywood casting office. What makes it innovative is the fact that the whole film was shot on digital cameras without any stops or edits, and you see each camera's shot (one in each corner of the screen) for 90 minutes. Interesting techincal achievement, but it's not exactly a leap in storytelling, nor is the story it tells all that interesting.

The Big Tease Mocumentary about a hair dressing competition in LA, with Scotsman Crawford Mackenzie (Craig Ferguson) doing anything to compete. A low-budget film with some celebrity cameos (Drew Carey, David Hasselhoff, etc.). Occasionally very amusing but not often enough.

Eight and a Half Women Latest (American released) Peter Greenaway film about a wealthy man who loses his wife and then "bonds" with his adult son - and together they organize a house of debauchery at dad's Swiss mansion. They recruit nine women, one of whom is in a wheelchair thus "half". This is a fairly droll two-hour film with moments of great wit and hilarity mixed in. Some will find the film in extremely bad taste, with plenty of male frontal nudity (a Greenaway trademark) and more than hints of incest. But if you can get past that - and sit through the thing - it's worth seeing, just for the good tidbits.

Up at the Villa (See Review) Period piece about a British aristocratic woman, Mary (Kristin Scott Thomas), living in Italy just before World War II. She is about to be married to a British diplomat twice her age when she meets two younger men (Sean Penn and Jeremy Davies) who change her perspective completely. Anne Bancroft is terrific as the senior duchess-type who advises Mary. Interesting story.

Joe Gould's Secret True story of a post-World War II writer for the New Yorker, Joe Mitchell (Stanley Tucci), who encounters into an eccentric, homeless writer named Joe Gould (Iam Holm), then writes a New Yorker story about Gould, giving him his 15 minutes. Gould, supposedly working on an epic "Oral History of the World", is loud and obnoxious but sympathetic enough to elicit donations to the "Joe Gould Fund" to keep from starving. Unfortunately, Gould's 15 minutes ends too quickly, tragically for him. Holm is terrific - one of the best actors working today.
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Mr. Death Errol Morris' latest documentary about Fred A. Leuchter, a designer of "death" equipment (electric chair accessories, gas chamber work, etc) for prisons. Leuchter made the mistake of trying to "prove" the Holocaust never happened and has his career and personal life ruined by Holocaust survivor groups. Quite an interesting film in Morris' unique documentary style - a little too stylized for PBS.
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Waking the Dead A Chicago congressional candidate in the Reagan Era is haunted by the political murder of his girlfriend in the 70's. This is basically a "chick flick" - lots of weepy stuff about this guy trying to get on with his life because she's gone...or is she really dead? I didn't cry - only Emily Watson can make me do that. :-) No, this film wasn't really to my tastes - performances are a little underwhelming, too - but people who like "relationship" films will probably enjoy the story. Bring Kleenex.
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Liberty Heights Good Barry Levinson movie that unfortunately is being released only on the art house circuit. It's another Baltimore movie set in the mid-50's, about discrimination against jews. There are three parallel stories: a jewish father running a burlesque club that fronts for illegal gambling. His older son strives to track down the perfect woman he met briefly at a party. His younger, more rebellious son is interested in dating a black woman. Not an outstanding film, just a pretty good drama.
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Tumbleweeds A white-trashy-type woman Mary Jo (Janet McTeer) frequently moves from town to town with her young teenage daughter, where Mary Jo will meet another guy and shack up with him. It's a nice mother-daughter bonding story and one of the rare good female performances of the year - McTeer is terrific. She got an Oscar Nomination...
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The Closer You Get (Irish - accents OK for Americans) The single men in a small Irish town decide to place a personal ad in a Miami paper to get American women to come to their annual Big Dance. This increases the rivalry with the local women. This is a very light romantic comedy that might please people who love a simple but entertaining film. Otherwise, it's nothing to write home about - not particularly clever or memorable. A change of pace from Hollywood makes the film seem fresh, though.

American Movie A low-budget documentary about the making of another low-budget film. Mark Borchardt is an energetic ultra-low-budget filmmaker in Milwaukee, trying desperately to finish his short slasher flick "Coven" so he can make his first feature "Northwestern". Borchardt's crew consists of an eccentric bunch of friends and family, who make "American Movie" so intensely interesting in the way "Crumb" was. But Borchardt himself dominates the film with his engaging wisecracks and authentic dedication to craft. If you've ever dreamed of making a movie...see "American Movie" first.
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The Wisdom of Crocodiles Jude Law plays a vampire who preys on young women, but he's complicated - an artist, a nice charming man, who in his twisted way truly wants love. Law is great as usual - he's got that icy confidence quality down pat. This is one of the more sympathetic portaits of a vampire to appear on the screen.

The War Zone Based on the novel of the same name: Tom - a withdrawn, geeky teenage boy - seems unhappy since the family moved from London out to the rural coast. He's kind of obsessed with his older sister, and now things have gotten complicated since his mum had a new daughter. Another "unhappy dysfunctional family" film - sort of - but it's smartly yet simply directed by actor Tim Roth (his directoral debut). The setting is mostly a rural house and the coast, but not a shot is wasted in this sometimes disturbing drama.
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East is East Decent film about a Pakistani man living in Britain trying to raise his (numerous) kids in the Pakistani tradition, despite having an English wife. The kids speak only English and have little interest in their cultural traditions but go along most of the time to avoid their strict father's wrath. Some very funny scenes also.
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Deterrence In 2008, US President Emerson (Kevin Pollack) is campaigning in Colorado when hostilities break out in the Middle East; a snow storm traps Emerson and his entourage in a rural diner, where Emerson must handle the crisis via high-tech communications. Emerson, lacking the military that President Bush had in 1990, has no choice but to threaten nuclear attack to protect the oil. The whole thing seems a little contrived and politically naive. Somewhat entertaining.
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Human Traffic "Trainspotting"-light - with some Rave thrown in. The film is about some Welsh kids who go out and party the weekend away. Sometimes the film is clever, with it's smart-ass observations about life, sex, and drugs, but after a while it gets repetitive.
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Holy Smoke (See Review) Unusual but fascinating film about a young Australian woman (Kate Winslet) who runs off to India and joins a cult. Her terrified family schemes to get her back home, then hires an American anti-cult expert (Harvey Keitel) to deprogram her. The relationship between the two gets twisted quickly in ways you could never imagine. The film is a drama about the search for happiness and meaning in life, but there are some hilarious moments as well. Winslet is quite naked at times. Pam Grier has what is basically a cameo.
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The Third Miracle A troubled priest (Ed Harris) has the duty in his parish of checking out potential sainthood cases. Questioning his own faith, he becomes drawn into the case of a statue that supposedly bleeds - offering the healing power of a dead mother who negelected her daughter (Anne Heche) in favor of charity work. Good story and decent performances by Harris and Heche but nothing to get excited about, unless the subject is of great interest to you.
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Earth Deepa Mehta's look at the disastrous partition and religious upheaval of India in 1947 through the eyes of a young girl. Unfortunately the film has a detached feel to it and is directed with little imagination. As with "Fire", "Earth" is notable mostly for its subject matter, which in this case is interesting but not particularly controversial. Not much better than a made-for-TV movie, really.

The Cradle Will Rock Tim Robbins' film of a "(mostly) true story" about a government-sponsored theater production during the Great Depression. The play "The Cradle Will Rock" was to be put on by Orson Welles (then a theater prodigy) and John Houseman but was shut down by the feds at the last hour due to the play's heavy pro-communist content. Good story but, unfortunately, Robbins' telling of it is fairly passionless and uninvolving. There are two subplots thematically connected to the main story, but they seem largely superfluous. Lots of name actors appear including the Cusacks, Bill Murray, and Emily Watson.
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All About My Mother (Spanish with English subtitles) Pedro Almodóvar's latest about a single mother whose teenage son is killed; she returns to Barcelona after a long absence to try to sort out her life. There she meets a bunch of characters (women and transexuals) dealing with their own problems. All the pieces of this drama seem to fit together a little too nicely. Still, a good female-oriented drama in a male-centered world of cinema. And it is beautifully filmed. (Spanish with English subtitles) Pedro Almodóvar's latest about a single mother whose teenage son is killed; she returns to Barcelona after a long absence to try to sort out her life. There she meets a bunch of characters (women and transexuals) dealing with their own problems. All the pieces of this drama seem to fit together a little too nicely. Still, a good female-oriented drama in a male-centered world of cinema. And it is beautifully filmed.
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Boys Don't Cry Based on the true story: a troubled young woman (Hilary Swank) in Nebraska pretends to be a man, Brandon Teena, and gets a bunch of rednecks pissed off when she starts a relationship with one of the local women (Chloe Sevigny). Disturbing especially when you rent the documentary "The Brandon Teena Story" and learn how much of this (e.g. tape recording of the police interrogator) is true. Both Swank and Sevigny are awesome and deserved their Oscar nominations.
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The Straight Story David Lynch's plain telling of the story of a elderly Iowa man (Richard Farnsworth) who finds out his brother is sick, so he rides his lawnmower several hundred miles to Wisconsin to see him. The film is disarmingly simple; it is also surprisingly powerful. David Lynch's plain telling of the story of a elderly Iowa man (Richard Farnsworth) who finds out his brother is sick, so he rides his lawnmower several hundred miles to Wisconsin to see him. The film is disarmingly simple; it is also surprisingly powerful.
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Lovers on the Bridge A French film made in 1991 but not distributed in the states until 1999 - a love story about two homeless people (Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant) who fall in love while camping out on a bridge in Paris. Poignant.

Felicia's Journey Atom Egoyan's latest, about an Irish girl who comes to England looking for her lover; she is aided by a kindly-seeming loner (Bob Hoskins) whose intentions may not be what they seem. Occasionally suspenseful and creepy. A great performance by Hoskins.

The Acid House If you liked "Trainspotting", this is a must see, as it's based on stories by the same author, Irvine Welsh. "The Acid House" is three stories (told one at a time) about people in various stressful situations. Two of the stories are pleasantly surreal, particularly the stand-out third story about a kid doing acid who is struck by lighting and the weird transformation he endures. The film is Scottish but is subtitled in English - for good reason. The accents are difficult at times for Americans.

The Boys (Australian - accents may be hard for Americans). A convict is released from prison and reunited with his two brothers and his girlfriend. But he can't help getting into trouble again, mostly with them. The drama seems sometimes exaggerated, but it does have an intensity to it. If you're not Australian, make sure you view the film when a good audio system is available, so you can understand the accents.

Romance (French with English subtitles; unrated, with graphic sexuality) A young woman, despondent that her boyfriend won't have sex with her anymore, has some bizarre affairs, which we see in slow, graphic detail. The film is an exploration of this woman's sense of herself and her sexuality. Some of the dialogue is a little hokey, but otherwise it's an interesting film. The ending is bizarre and unexpected.

Joe the King (See Review) Sad story of Joe, a boy growing up in a poor family in the 70's. Joe has friends, a brother, and two parents at the home, but no one seems to care about him or give him the slightest affection. So Joe takes to mischief and stealing. Goes to show that two parents at home could be worse than one good parent. Virtually a remake of Francois Truffaut's classic "The 400 Blows".

23 (German with English Subtitles) Based on true events in Germany in the 1980's: some German hacker kids break into computers all over the world and sell their secrets to the Russians. Kind of suspenseful but not really. More of a morality play.