Vulgaria
Film Review by Kam Williams
Raunchy Sex Comedy Fails to Live Up to Its Billing
This movie opens with a parental warning giving folks ten seconds to leave the theater because what you're about to watch is wild, raunchy, irreverent and politically-incorrect. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. So much for truth in advertising!
Yes, Vulgaria does revolve around a prurient plotline, but the way in which it is executed is totally tame. In 25 words or less, this picture is about a down-on-his-luck film producer (Chapman To) who decides to try to pay off his debts by shooting a remake of a classic skin flick. And the cash-strapped Wai Cheung even offers an aging porn star (Shaw Yin Yin) the lead role in the project by promising to use special effects to place her head on the body of an attractive, young body double.
Unfortunately, Vulgaria proves to be a dialogue-driven tease which drags on and on with tons of titillating talk without ever getting around to displaying any of the eroticism contemplated by its kinky producer (Ronald Cheng) with a vivid imagination. To make matters worse, unless something gets lost in the translation from Chinese, all of this supposed sex comedy's lame attempts at humor also fall flat.
A transparent, bait-and-switch disappointment strictly for suckers.
Fair (1 star)
Unrated
In Cantonese with subtitles
Running time: 93 minutes
Distributor: China Lion Films
To see a trailer for Vulgaria, visit
Argo
Film Review by Kam Williams
Espionage Thriller Recounts Diplomats' Daring Escape from Iran
On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, taking 52 Americans hostage with hopes of exchanging them for the recently-deposed Shah. What ensued was a 444-day ordeal which would last long after the despised despot died in exile without standing trial.
While that drawn-out standoff continued to occupy the world's attention as front-page news, almost no one knew that a half-dozen Americans had managed to steal away unnoticed during the assault and taken refuge in the home of the Canadian Ambassador, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). And the discovery of their whereabouts by the rabidly anti-Western, Khomeini regime would have undoubtedly triggered another international incident.
So, they surreptitiously contacted the CIA which assigned their rescue to Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), an exfiltration specialist with a perfect record of freeing captives from such perilous predicaments. Agent Mendez proceeded to hatch an attention-grabbing scheme that was the antithesis of the sort of clandestine operation one might expect of a spy.
His high-profile plan involved creating a cover for the stranded diplomats by making a movie that was actually nothing more than a CIA front. First, he enlisted the assistance of a veteran Hollywood executive (Alan Arkin) and an Oscar-winner (John Goodman) sworn to secrecy, to lend an air of authenticity to the ruse by posing as the picture's producer and makeup artist, respectively.
Figuring, "If you want to spread a lie, get the press to sell it for you," they launched the project at an elaborate press conference attended by actors in gaudy costumes. The media fell for it hook, line and sinker, and soon Tinseltown was abuzz about Argo, an upcoming sci-fi set to be shot on location in Iran. Truth be told, Mendez would be the only person venturing on the dangerous mission to Teheran where the film's tone shifts from flip and lighthearted to stone cold sober. Upon arriving at the ambassador's house, the hero hands the six Americans newly-prepared passports with fresh identities as members of a Canadian film crew.
The tension rapidly ratchets-up in intensity as the ever-vigilant Iranian authorities close-in just as the diplomats make their escape to the airport where the slightest slip during an interrogation could mean the difference between life and death. An edge-of-your-seat thriller not to be forgotten at Oscar time!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity and violent images.
Running time: 120 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers
To see a trailer for Argo, visit
Here Comes the Boom
Film Review by Kam Williams
Teacher Moonlights as MMA Prizefighter to Save School's Music Program
Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a bored biology teacher at mythical Wilkinson High in Massachusetts, a cash-strapped school suffering from low morale. The apathetic slacker is part of the problem, as he sets a horrible example for his students, between stealing candy from vending machines and always arriving late for class.
During recess, the bored, 42 year-old bachelor makes a habit of flirting with the beautiful school nurse, Bella (Salma Hayek). However, she just as routinely rebuffs his advances with gentle reminders of how often she's rejected each of his requests for a date.
The plot thickens the day Principal Betcher (Gregg German) assembles the faculty in the auditorium to announce his latest budgetary cutbacks. Those money-saving measures not only include plans to eliminate afterschool activities like the debate club and field trips but even the entire music program.
That means Scott's colleague Marty Streb (Henry Winkler) will be callously laid-off right before earning tenure. And to add insult to injury, the dedicated music teacher's firing comes at a time when his wife (Nikki Tyler-Flynn) is pregnant.
This dire state of affairs inspires Scott to prevail upon the principal to preserve his pal's position. But Betcher says he simply doesn't have the $48,000 to pay Marty.
Therefore, Scott, who hasn't wrestled competitively since college, decides to raise the cash by moonlighting in the ring as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. With the help of Marty and a retired kickboxing champ (Bas Rutten), he proceeds to whip himself into the best shape a middle-aged couch potato might hope for.
So unfolds Here Comes the Boom, a sweet-natured, overcoming-the-odds sports saga combining familiar elements of Rocky (1976) and Nacho Libre (2006). Directed by Frank Coraci (The Waterboy), the star vehicle showcases Kevin James' comic genius at his best, whether he's doing pratfalls in a mask and ill-fitting stretchy pants or futilely wooing the woman of his dreams.
The paint-by-numbers plot inexorably builds to a UFC-sanctioned showdown between Scott and an intimidating adversary (Krzysztof Soszynski) for a purse conveniently matching Marty's salary. Wouldn't it be nice if Wilkinson's student body and school band were on hand in the Vegas arena to cheer for their altruistic teach, and better yet if Bella had a change of heart and also arrived ringside for a kiss at the moment of truth?
Here Comes the Boom? How about, here comes a pat Hollywood tale of redemption where a perennial loser transforms himself into a beloved hero who wins the cage match, saves his best friend's job, and gets the gorgeous girl!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for sports violence, crude humor and mild epithets.
Running time: 105 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
To see a trailer for Here Comes the Boom, visit
Prometheus
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Archaeologists Encounter Alien Life Forms in Outer Space Horror Flick
Dateline: Scotland, 2089. While spelunking along the shores of the Isle of Skye, archaeologists Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) discover an ancient painting etched into the ceiling of an abandoned cave. The uncanny researchers immediately discern that the primitive picture is an invitation from aliens to visit a moon located in a remote constellation that might very well have been the birthplace of humanity.
Fast-forward a few years and we find the curious couple already en route to LV-233 on a daring expedition to find proof that people were created not by God but genetically engineered by sentient beings from another galaxy. It is unclear how unearthing such evidence will affect the faith of Dr. Shaw, a devout Christian who always wears a cross that was a gift from her late father (Patrick Shaw).
As the spaceship Prometheus approaches its destination, Captain Janek (Idris Elba) and his crew of sixteen are roused from a cryogenic state of hibernation by a doting, concrete blond android named David (Michael Fassbender). Upon landing, however, command of the operation is assumed by Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), a coldhearted, corporate executive employed by Weyland Corporation whose late CEO (Guy Pearce) underwrote the trillion-dollar mission.
The trip is just a job to the jaded Vickers who is skeptical about what she refers to as "the scribbling of dirty little savages in caves." In fact, she orders the disembarking explorers to refrain from making any direct contact with aliens.
Of course, contact with alien life forms is precisely the point of Prometheus, a high body-count, horror flick directed by three-time, Oscar-nominee Ridley Scott (for Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Thelma & Louise). At this juncture, the picture proceeds to divide its time between raising probing philosophical questions about the intersection of science, religion and ethics, and gratuitous graphic depictions of body invasion, mutation, and gruesome vivisection.
Although initially conceived as a prequel to Alien (1979), also directed by Scott, the movie was ultimately released as a stand alone adventure. Regardless, this riveting, visually-captivating and thought-provoking sci-fi is well-enough executed to recommend for avid sci-fi fans, even if the heavy-handed, faith-based symbolism ("Where's my cross?" and "After all this, you still believe!") gets to be a bit much.
A thinly-veiled intro to the Alien franchise revising that classic's tagline to suggest: In space, no one can hear you scream, except perhaps God.
Very Good (3 Stars)
Rated R for intense violence and brief profanity.
Running time: 124 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes and more.
To see a trailer for Prometheus, visit
Surviving Progress
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Eco-Documentary Examines Human Contribution to Climate Change
Whether or not recent atmospheric trends are due to global warming, it's pretty clear that humanity is playing a large part in climate change. But rather than engaging in silly debates about whether we're headed for immolation or another Ice Age, it might be better to examine exactly how we are affecting the planet and what can be done to avert ecological ruin.
That is the thesis of Surviving Progress, a cautionary documentary co-directed by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks. With the help of Earth advocates like physicist Stephen Hawking, conservationist Jane Goodall and environmental activist Margaret Atwood, the picture issues an urgent appeal for effective intervention before it's too late.
The filmmakers believe that a good place to start might be with a redefinition of what we mean by progress, since our slavish addiction to technological advances involves unchecked mass consumption. They refer to the way in which we deceive ourselves into believing that we can rape the rainforests and the other natural resources, ad infinitum, as the "Progress Trap."
Primatologist Goodall observes that, "We are the most intellectual creature that's ever walked the planet," before wondering why such an intelligent being would willfully destroy its only home. Ms. Atwood adds that instead of thinking of the Earth as a huge bank we can just keep making endless carbon withdrawals from by credit card, "we have to think of the finite nature of the planet and how to keep it alive so that we too may remain alive."
Some of those weighing-in fervently believe the answer inexorably rests with individuals. "We have to use less," says energy expert Vaclav Smil. Similarly, Colin Bevan, director of the No Impact Project, insists that we should each be cognizant of our individual carbon footprints. "Before I go around trying to change others, maybe I should look at myself and change myself," he concedes.
Still, given how mega-corporations have come to rationalize deforestation and the unchecked mining of minerals, it is no surprise that geneticist David Suzuki might describe economics "as a form of brain damage." Somehow, Mr. Hawking remains optimistic about the prospects for humanity, in spite of the fact that, "We are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history."
In the end, behavioral scientist Daniel Povinelli perhaps sums up the situation best, by suggesting that if humans go extinct, the epitaph on our gravestone should simply read "Why?" A thought-provoking clarion call to stop using our brains in ways which are detrimental to our very survival.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 86 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features
DVD Extras: Introduction by Martin Scorcese at the NYC premiere; roundtable discussion with the filmmakers; portrait gallery with voiceover; filmmakers biographies; and extended interviews.
To see a trailer for Surviving Progress, visit
Six Million and One
Film Review by Kam Williams
Children Retrace Steps of Late Father in Holocaust Survivor Bipoic
When he was alive, Joseph Fisher never shared with his children any of his experiences while being interned in concentration camps during World War II. So, you might imagine their surprise to find a diary recounting his nightmarish ordeal among his personal effects after he passed away.
Only one of his offspring, David, could bring himself to read the memoir, a heartbreaking account of a struggle to maintain sanity in the face of unspeakable horrors ranging from forced labor to starvation to torture to rape to cannibalism to murder. The incredibly revealing reflections ("It's as if you have no skin to protect you.") posthumously erased an emotional boundary that had existed between the son and his understandably-traumatized, if emotionally-distant parent.
David immediately felt compelled to travel to Europe to retrace his dad's footsteps from Auschwitz to Gusen to Gunskirchen. And he soon succeeded in convincing his very hesitant siblings to join him on the trek. The upshot of that undertaking is Six Million and One, as moving a documentary about the Holocaust as one is ever apt to encounter.
At the site of the death camps, we hear poignant passages from Joseph Fisher's journal about being ordered to remove bodies of other prisoners from the extermination block and about having to eat grass and snails to stay alive. He also talks about how, upon being liberated, "I felt guilty about surviving. I've felt this way all my life."
By film's end, expect to weep as much as all four Fisher kids. A bittersweet tale of survival, as well as a priceless history lesson for the ages illustrating man's capacity for inhumanity to his fellow man.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Hebrew English and German with subtitles
Running time: 93 minutes
Distributor: Nancy Fishman Film Releasing
To see a trailer for Six Million and One, visit
Won't Back Down
Film Review by Kam Williams
Jaded Teacher and Single-Mom Join Forces in Uplifting Tale of Female Empowerment
In 2010, California passed the nation's first "Parent Trigger Law," a bill which enables a neighborhood with an underperforming public school to fire the principal, replace the staff and convert it to a charter, provided a majority of the parents with students attending it sign a petition. The legislation has proved very controversial thus far, with opponents alleging that the measure is merely anti-union, whereas the sponsors call it an overdue reform intended to give kids stuck in so-called "dropout factories" a fair chance.
Consequently, Won't Back Down is opening under a cloud of controversy, which is unfortunate since the film is otherwise a quite engaging and entertaining tale of female empowerment. The reason why the picture has generated so much suspicion is that it was produced by Walden Media, the same studio that just a couple of years ago released Waiting for Superman, an incendiary documentary that came under attack for blaming teachers' unions for the broken educational system.
Although based on actual events that transpired in Los Angeles, Won't Back Down is set in the City of Pittsburgh, where we find an exasperated Jamie Fitzpatrick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) struggling to just to survive. Between selling used cars by day and bartending at night, the single-mom barely has any energy left to attend to the academic needs of her dyslexic daughter, Malia (Emily Alyn Lind).
Convinced that the lagging 8 year-old hasn't learned to read out of neglect, she enters the little girl in a lottery for one of the few coveted spots opening up at Rosa Parks, a highly-regarded, nearby charter school. But when Malia's name isn't called, the frustrated mother decides to do something about the school they're still stuck with.
Inspired by the state's new "Fail Safe Law," Jamie morphs into a tireless child advocate hell-bent on wresting the reins of control from an administration and staff with low expectations. Along the way, she enlists the assistance of Nona Alberts (Viola Davis), a jaded teacher who had all but gone to acceptance.
Initially, Nona is reluctant to get involved, because she could very easily get blacklisted for trying to bust the union. Furthermore, she's an emotional wreck, being overwhelmed by the prospect of having to raise her son (Dante Brown) on her own in the wake of her estranged husband's (Lance Reddick) recent departure.
Nevertheless, Jamie and Nona bond and, over the objections of bureaucrats, not only garner the requisite number of parental votes but even talk the teachers into surrendering job security for performance-based salaries. An uplifting, overcoming the odds Hollywood saga suggesting that the solution to public education's host of woes might be as simple as a couple of women on the verge of a nervous breakdown picking up picket signs.
In the tradition of Norma Rae and Erin Brockovich, say hello to Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes and mild epithets.
Running time: 121 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Walden Media
To see a trailer for Won't Back Down, visit
Looper
Film Review by Kam Williams
Hit Man Turns Fugitive in Riveting Time-Travel Thriller
Dateline: Kansas City, 2042, which is where we find 25 year-old Joseph Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gainfully-employed as a novel type of hit man called a "looper." The grisly line of work basically involves waiting at a designated clearing in a cornfield for the delivery of a blindfolded kidnap victim involuntarily teleported back in time.
As soon as each person spontaneously materializes, Joe blows them away on the spot with a big blunderbuss, before incinerating the body to eliminate the evidence. This modernistic equivalent of filling cement shoes has become the mob's preferred method of assassination since loopers can commit the perfect crime by killing people who technically don't even exist yet.
Despite the great pay, Joe's job has one major drawback, namely, that he will eventually be expected to close his own loop by shooting his future self (Bruce Willis) dead in the killing field. In the interim, he copes with the prospect of committing suicide via drugs and denial, getting high while making plans to retire to France that ostensibly amount to an exercise in futility.
The moment of truth arrives the fateful day he finally finds himself face-to-face with his 55 year-old alter ego. However, Joe is unable to pull the trigger, a failing which doesn't sit well with his short-fused boss (Jeff Daniels) who immediately dispatches an army of thugs to finish off both fugitives.
That is the absorbing premise of Looper, a riveting sci-fi thriller directed by Rian Johnson. The movie marks the third collaboration between him and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a reteaming lending credence to the age-old maxim: three times a charm.
The picture's inscrutable script is as confounding as Chris Nolan's Memento, and visually the production is rather reminiscent of the best of Steven Spielberg. Nice company. Again and again, just when you think you've unraveled the convoluted plot, the story takes yet another intriguing turn into uncharted waters.
Great performances abound here, starting with Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as the same character. Also deserving of accolades in substantial support roles are Paul Dano, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo and Jeff Daniels.
A mind-bending masterpiece that's a must for more cerebral fans of the time-travel genre.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexuality, nudity, drug use and graphic violence.
Running time: 118 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
To see a trailer for Looper, visit
Hotel Transylvania
Film Review by Kam Williams
Mortal Courts Dracula's Overprotected Daughter in Animated Romantic Comedy
I know it's a little early in the season, but if you're ready for a Halloween-themed flick that's going to be lot of fun for the whole family, have I got a cartoon for you. More romantic and funny than spooky and spine-tingling, Hotel Transylvania is a tenderhearted tale that milks most of its mirth by turning a basic scary movie convention on its head.
For, the picture unfolds from the point-of-view of Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) and a beleaguered brotherhood of peace-loving creatures who have not only been unfairly-demonized as monsters but are actually more afraid of humans than we are of them. Who knew? Victims of bad press and paranoia, they naturally shy away from making any contact with humans.
After his wife's untimely demise at the hands of an angry mob, an understandably overprotective Dracula restricted his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), to the safe confines of the family's hilltop mansion, far removed from any prejudiced townsfolk armed with torches and pitchforks. Inside that protective bubble, "Daddy's Little Ghoul" was raised on misleading nursery rhymes in which all the evil villains were people.
Figuring his fellow social outcasts might also enjoy a sanctuary of tranquility safe from humanity, Dracula transforms his sprawling estate into the Hotel Transylvania, a swanky, 5-stake (ala "5-star") resort catering strictly to fellow monsters. The plot thickens when he lowers the drawbridge over the moat to the castle to welcome his friends to celebrate Mavis' birthday.
A hiker who just stumbled upon the place slips in alongside Frankenstein (Kevin James), The Mummy (CeeLo Green), The Werewolf (Steve Buscemi), Quasimodo (Jon Lovitz), The Invisible Man (David Spade) and the other invited guests. Jonathan (Andy Samberg) may be a mere mortal, but the clueless party crasher's just the right age to appreciate the blossoming beauty of a rebellious teen vampire with raging hormones.
It's cross-species love at first sight, much to the chagrin of an exasperated Count Dracula whose desperate efforts to discourage his suddenly-defiant daughter prove futile. His cries of "You're barely out of your training fangs!" and "There are so many eligible monsters!" fall on deaf ears, as Mavis opts instead to heed her late-mother's sage suggestion that "A zing comes along only once in a life."
A tyke-friendly, Halloween adventure teaching a universal message of tolerance via the oft-repeated maxim that monsters are people, too!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG for action, rude humor and scary images.
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
To see a trailer for Hotel Transylvania, visit
Resident Evil: Retribution
Film Review by Kam Williams
Enduring Franchise Finds Latex-Clad Heroine Fighting More Mutants
The Resident Evil film franchise is proving to be every bit as enduring as the hordes of flesh-eating zombies featured in its every episode. The movies are based on the popular series of high body-count computer games which has also spawned some comic books, graphic novels, cartoons, and a line of merchandise with action figures and more.
This fifth screen adaptation marks yet another collaboration between writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife, cover girl-turned-actress Milla Jovovich. She, of course, reprises her lead role as Alice, the pistol-packing protector of a planet once again threatened with extinction.
As usual, Anderson does his best to exploit his supermodel spouse's good looks, between keeping her clad in form-fitting latex for the duration of the adventure and seizing on any excuse to take a pause in the action for a lingering, extreme close-up of her flawless facial features. Otherwise, RE 5 offers formulaic zombie fighting fare, with Alice and an intrepid team of defenders (Michelle Rodriguez, Boris Kodjoe, Bingbing Li, et al) representing the last hope of humanity.
At the point of departure, our heroine, by way of voiceover, quickly recounts the back story of what's transpired in the prior installments. We learn that the trouble all started when an industrial accident triggered a viral outbreak which in turn led to the rise of the undead.
Today, the diabolical Umbrella Corporation is apparently again up to no good, and on the verge of unleashing an army of mind-controlled minions, including clones of our pretty protagonist. Over-plotted to the point of absurdity, there's no reason to try to follow RE 5's storyline.
For while Milla might be up to the challenge of executing the script, the same can't be said about her supporting cast's wooden delivery of every last line of dialogue. The worst in this regard is Hong Kong star Bingbing Li who is crippled by the English language making a disastrous Hollywood debut here. A visually-captivating fantasy for teenage males with raging hormones, the demo most apt to enjoy watching an invincible vixen in spandex waste wave after wave of mindless mutants.
Fair (1 star)
Rated R for partial nudity and pervasive graphic violence.
Running time: 95 minutes
Distributor: Screen Gems
To see a trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution, visit
IFC Midnight
Ashley Hinshaw and James Franco star in “About Cherry.”
About Cherry
Film Review by Kam Williams
Naive Runaway Turns Porn Star in Cautionary Tale of Survival
Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw) is a naïve, 18 year-old with a blossoming body but a horrible home situation. Between a predatory stepfather (Stephen Wiig) with a creepy agenda and an alcoholic mother (Lili Taylor) too inebriated to protect her, it's just a matter of time before the poor girl has to vacate the premises.
Unfortunately, she proceeds to follow a lot of bad advice, starting with her boyfriend's (Jonny Weston) pressure to pose naked for pay. Although initially hesitant, the clueless coed goes along with the idea, unaware that nude photo spreads are apparently the adult entertainment industry's equivalent of a gateway drug to utter depravity.
The next thing you now, she's dropping out of high school and running away from L.A. to San Francisco with a Platonic pal (Dev Patel) who worships her. They rent an apartment together, with him landing a legitimate job at a bookstore while she finds work at a seedy strip club.
Soon thereafter, Angelina not only starts dating a customer (James Franco) but is recruited to appear in X-rated movies by a very-reassuring, retired porn star (Heather Graham). She adopts a stage name, "Cherry," and takes to performing sex acts in front of the camera like a fish to water, gradually graduating from soft porn to ever-increasingly salacious fare.
Not surprisingly, this development takes a toll on her personal relationships, as both her new beau ("What you do is disgusting!") and secret admirer roommate ("I'm just a foreigner you keep around to run errands!") eventually express their displeasure. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the trajectory of Angelina/Cherry's life has to turn tragic, especially when there's an empathetic lipstick lesbian waiting in the wings on the set of her latest explicit adventure.
Directed by Stephen Elliott, About Cherry's optimistic arc might be explained by the fact that he co-wrote the script with Lorelei Lee, a popular porn star-turned-NYU college lecturer. Lorelei's literary imprimatur lends considerable credibility to this presumably semi-autobiographical soap opera, since it would otherwise be impossible to fathom how the picture's terminally-suggestible protagonist wasn't left devastated by such a self-destructive string of degrading choices.
Pollyanna does ‘Frisco!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, nudity, profanity and drug use.
Running time: 102 minutes
Distributor: IFC Films
To see a trailer for About Cherry, visit
The Words
Film Review by Kam Williams
Plagiarism Exacts Emotional Toll in Tale of Overwhelming Regret
The latest stop on Clayton Hammond's (Dennis Quaid) whirlwind book tour has the renowned author in New York City to promote his latest opus. It's a cautionary tale of overwhelming regret recounting the rise and fall of a presumably fictional character called Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper).
At the story's point of departure, he's an aspiring novelist under pressure to find a day job after years of relying on handouts from his father (J.K. Simmons). The young man grudgingly capitulates by taking a lowly 9 to 5 gig in the mailroom of a leading literary agency.
The steady pay does enable Rory to save enough money to propose to his longtime girlfriend (Zoe Saldana) who has been patiently waiting to start a family. Soon enough, they're newlyweds and honeymooning in Paris where the grateful bride impulsively buys her hubby a weather-beaten briefcase lying around a dusty antique shop.
Upon returning to the States, Rory opens the valise and discovers that it isn't empty but contains a yellowed, handwritten manuscript by someone far more talented than he. However, instead of trying to locate the owner, he succumbs to the temptation to submit the novel to publishers under his own name.
And lo and behold, the book, "The Window Tears," becomes a runaway best-seller, thereby belatedly launching the literary career he'd always dreamed of. But because of the possibility of the real author's (Jeremy Irons) stepping forward to expose the fraud, Rory faces the prospect of having to spend his life looking over his shoulder.
Co-written and co-directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, The Words is constructed as a series of flashbacks narrated by a visibly-haunted Hammond as he reads excerpts from his new book. It gradually becomes obvious that he is emotionally agonizing over the material on the pages as the tension mounts around whether what his audience is hearing might be autobiographical rather than fictional.
Unfortunately, the problems with this glacial-paced production are plentiful. First, it's hard to swallow the film's farfetched premise, and harder still to fathom how its protagonist has managed to maintain the charade for so long, especially given his guilty conscience and being confronted by the aggrieved party he's impersonated.
Secondly, neither of the parallel plotlines is particularly engaging, the only issue of interest being whether Hammond's new book constitutes a confession that his debut novel had been purloined. For this reason, the film's biggest flaw rests in its ultimately ending on a cliffhanger, and thereby failing to resolve if Rory Jansen is indeed a thinly-veiled version of the author.
That anticlimactic conclusion proves to be quite unsatisfying after an investment of what feels like an eternity awaiting the resolution of the specific question "Did he or didn't he?" The only thing worse than a movie without an ending, is a ninety-minute endurance test without an ending.
Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for smoking, sensuality and brief profanity.
Running time: 96 minutes
Distributor: CBS Films
To see a trailer for The Words, visit
Elles
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Anne (
is a stressed-out investigative reporter for Elle Magazine, stationed in Paris, who's a good candidate for a lifestyle makeover, given the overwhelming demands of her job and her family. Her boss has been pressuring her to meet the deadline for the article she's currently working on about college students who moonlight as high-priced call girls.
Meanwhile, she has her hands full on the home front because her husband, Patrick (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing), shows no interest in bearing his half of the burden. Hence, she has to shoulder the full responsibility of motivating their stoner (Francois Civil) and couch potato (Pablo Beugnet) sons to do more than lounge around the flat with a view.
Although Anne also needs to attend to her bed-ridden father (Jean-Marie Binoche), her hubby still expects her to play the perfect hostess by whipping up a gourmet meal the evening he invites his boss over for dinner. And to add insult to injury, he goes out of his way to warn his wife not to embarrass him by making any unpleasant conversation at the dinner table.
Being married to such a cad, is it any surprise that Anne might start to take a personal interest in Charlotte (Anais Demoustier) and Alicja (Joanna Kulig), the two young prostitutes being profiled in her piece? That is precisely what transpires in Elles, a steamy, midlife crisis drama directed by Malgoska Szumowska.
Initially, Anne interviews her subjects in a professional manner, posing probing questions about whether they enjoy indulging the fetishes of their assorted clients, in the process eliciting very graphic descriptions of their kinky liaisons. But the miserably-married journalist becomes intrigued, once it's apparent that they've taken to the world's oldest profession like fish to water.
Then, against her better judgment, Anne shares shots of vodka with the seductive Charlotte, only to cross another line by experimenting with lesbianism. The glaring juxtaposition of the happy hookers with the pathetic plight of the unappreciated supermom seems to suggest that the wife taken for granted might actually be in a worse predicament.
Reminiscent of the incendiary offerings of the iconoclastic Catherine Breillat like Romance (1999) and Fat Girl (2001), Elles is a thought-provoking immorality play apt to stir up just as much controversy by virtue of its seemingly-gratuitous sex scenes alone. Does the fact that the director's a feminist and the star is an Oscar-winning actress provide sufficient artistic cover for carnal clinches which border on soft porn? Does the explicit eroticism serve to advance the plot or was it included purely for titillation purposes?
Those are questions you'll have to answer for yourself upon screening and introspection, unless you're the Puritanical type that considers any lurid depictions of copulation blasphemous. Let the endless debate begin!
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated NC-17 for nudity and explicit sexuality.
In French, Polish and Arabic with subtitles.
Running time: 99 minutes
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Blu-ray Extras: Edited and unedited trailers; and a stills gallery.
To see a trailer for Elles, visit
by Kam Williams
For movies opening September 14, 2012
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Finding Nemo (G) 3-D rerelease of the much-beloved animated adventure about a timid clownfish (Albert Brooks) who summons up the courage to embark on a perilous transoceanic trek to rescue a son (Alexander Gould) left trapped in a bowl in a dentist's office after being netted by fishermen near the Great Barrier Reef. Voice cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney and Geoffrey Rush.
Resident Evil: Retribution (R for pervasive graphic violence) 5th installment in the grisly, sci-fi franchise finds Milla Jovovich reprising her role as an intrepid defender of the planet and forging new alliances in a high body-count fight against legions of flesh-eating zombies. With Boris Kodjoe, Oded Fehr, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez and Bingbing Li.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
10 Years (PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, drug use and alcohol abuse) Skeletons-out-of-the-closet dramedy about the shocking confessions shared by five best friends (Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Chris Pratt, Oscar Isaac and Max Minghella) upon returning to their hometown for their 10th high school reunion. Ensemble cast includes Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Ari Graynor, Kate Mara and Ron Livingston.
Arbitrage (R for profanity, drug use and violent images) Richard Gere stars in this Wall Street thriller as the philandering manager of a sinking hedge fund who implicates a friend of the family (Nate Parker) in the death of his mistress (Laetitia Casta) rather than risk damaging his marriage and reputation. With Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling and William Friedkin.
Bait 3-D (R for profanity, graphic violence and grisly images) Disaster flick about the residents of a beachfront community who find themselves surrounded by a swarm of great white sharks after a tsunami leaves them trapped inside a submerged grocery store. Cast includes Xavier Samuel, Julian McMahon and Phoebe Tonkin.
Barfi! (Unrated) Romance drama about the love triangle which develops when a woman (Ileana D'Cruz) has second thoughts about rejecting a hearing and speech-impaired suitor (Ranbir Kapoor) after he falls for a mentally-challenged maiden (Priyanka Chopra). (In Hindi with subtitles)
Francine (Unrated) Oscar-winner Melissa Leo (for The Fighter) plays the title character in this introspective portrait of an ex-con adjusting back to civilian life in a rural region of upstate New York after paying her debt to society. With Victoria Charkut, Dave Clark and Keith Leonard.
I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful (Unrated) Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme (for Silence of the Lambs) directs this post-Katrina documentary chronicling the valiant struggle of a feisty, retired resident of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward to rebuild her home left devastated by the hurricane.
Liberal Arts (Unrated) Romantic dramedy about a just-jilted 35 year-old bachelor (Josh Radnor) who falls for a teenaged college student (Elizabeth Olsen) upon returning to his alma mater to attend one of his professor's (Richard Jenkins) retirement party. Cast includes Zac Efron, Allison Janney, Kate Burton and Elizabeth Reasor.
The Master (R for profanity, sexuality and graphic nudity) Philip Seymour Hoffman handles the titular role of this tale of disillusionment, set in the wake of World War II, revolving around a devoted member (Joaquin Phoenix) of a burgeoning religious cult who gradually grows suspicious of the motivations of its charismatic founder. With Amy Adams, Laura Dern and Jesse Plemons.
The Stand Up (Unrated) New lease on life drama about a comedian (Jonathan Sollis) who retires after the tragic death of his girlfriend (Julia Dennis) only to get a second chance at love when he takes a job as a kindergarten teacher at a grammar school where he develops a crush on a cute colleague (Margarita Levieva). Supporting cast includes Aidan Quinn, Jennifer Mudge and Jonathan Reed Wexler.
Step Up to the Plate (Unrated) Haute cuisine documentary about renowned, French chef Michel Bras decision to hand over the reins of his three-star restaurant to his long-time assistant, his son, Sebastien. (In French with subtitles)
Stolen (R for violence and brief profanity) Nicolas Cage stars in this crime thriller about a recently-paroled master thief's frantic search for a daughter (Sami Gayle) kidnapped for a ransom he can't raise. With Malin Akerman, Josh Lucas and Danny Huston.
The Trouble with the Truth (R for profanity and sexual references) Bittersweet drama about a starving artist who (John Shea) takes some time to reflect with his ex-wife (Lea Thompson ) upon their failed marriage after their daughter (Danielle Harris) announces her engagement. With Keri Lynn Pratt, Ira Heiden and Rainy Kerwin.
Israeli Documentary Chronicles Rise and Fall of the Kibbutz Movement
At the time the State of Israel was established in 1948, the Kibbutz Movement had already been thriving there for almost 40 years. In fact, the country might not have come into existence without the kibbutzim, because the settlements, which raised kids collectively, were very adept at turning children into patriotic fighters willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their homeland.
The very first kibbutz, Kvutzat Degania, was started in 1909 near the Southern tip of the Sea of Galilee by a dozen refugees from Eastern Europe. They envisioned the kibbutz (which is Hebrew for "gathering") as a path towards creating a just Jewish nation based on socialist principles.
Founded on benign notions of equality and cooperative economics, the kibbutz system became a powerful magnet for Jews who yearned for self-determination. Participants lived communally, with profits from farming and other enterprises being pooled for the benefit of all.
The rise and decline of that utopian experiment is the subject of "Inventing Our Life," a riveting retrospective directed by Toby Perl Freilich. The film illustrates in detail how the kibbutz system evolved over the course of its century-long existence, and how it eventually came to incorporate such individualistic concepts as differential wages and privatization of property.
This warts-and-all documentary shares a wealth of information by way of the bittersweet reflections of several generations of folks raised on a kibbutz. Most touching are the wistful remembrances of those who recall pining for their parents at night as children because kids slept in separate buildings from adults.
We see that in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union these Israeli communists were finally forced to make many concessions to modernity and materialism. One disappointed adherent grudgingly admits learning that, "The kibbutz system, based on altruism, failed, while the American system, based on greed, works."
A valuable history lesson about an idealistic blueprint for nirvana ultimately frustrated by something as simple as basic human nature.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 80 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes and an audio interview with director Toby Perl Freilich.
To see a clip of Inventing Our Life, visit
Film Review by Kam Williams
Piano Prodigy's Aspirations Frustrated by Drug-Addicted Mom's Dealer in Irreverent Abduction Dramedy
Eli Bloom (Jesse Eisenberg) is a classical music prodigy who dreams of attending a prestigious conservatory in Boston. The only thing standing in the way of his promising future is the constant distraction of having to care for his 9 year-old sister, Nicole (Emma Rayne Lyle), and his mother (Melissa Leo), a 45 year-old cocaine addict who just can't seem to get her act together.
She finally agrees to enter rehab on the very same day of his big audition. And a complication arises when she's rejected by the clinic for passing the drug test they administer.
Since this program only admits people who flunk, Penny pressures her son to purchase $50 worth of blow from her dealer (Tracy Morgan) so she can get good and high to satisfy the center's by-the-book bureaucrats. Although Eli'd prefer to be practicing piano, he grudgingly agrees to approach the pusher, unaware that his mom happens to be deeply indebted to him.
Then, once Sprinkles learns that Eli is Penny's son, he and his henchman, Black (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), proceed to carjack the whole blooming Bloom family in order to recoup their losses come Hell or high water. Meanwhile, time's a wasting and the odds that Eli will even be able to attend his audition worsen by the minute.
So unfolds Why Stop Now, a raucous road dramedy featuring the unlikely casting of Oscar-winner Melissa Leo (for The Fighter) and Oscar-nominee Jesse Eisenberg (for The Social Network) opposite SNL alumnus Tracy Morgan. The oil-and-water is a classic case study of squandered talent, with the serious thespians looking lost when asked to react to the motor-mouthed comic's ostensibly improvised jokes like "somebody needs tough-actin' Tinactin" about smelly feet.
Whitlock isn't any funnier as Morgan's partner-in-crime, coming off as mean-spirited when he tosses Nicole's beloved puppet out the window of the moving auto. Nonetheless, the movie delivers just enough laughs to remain recommended, despite the fact that this hard to pigeonhole head-scratcher would have benefitted from making a total commitment to either comedy or a drama.
Good (2 stars)
Unrated
In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 88 minutes
Distributor: IFC Films
To see a trailer for Why Stop Now, visit
Film Review by Kam Williams
Spy Franchise Reboot Features Pill-Popping Potboiler
The prior three installments in the Bourne franchise, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, were all adapted from best-sellers by Robert Ludlum and starred Matt Damon as espionage agent extraordinaire Jason Bourne. The Bourne Legacy represents a major departure in that it's based on a book by Eric Van Lustbader and only makes slight references to the title character.
In place of Bourne, this reboot revolves around Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a pill-popping protagonist being turned into a killing machine by way of an experimental CIA program. At the point of departure, we find the unassuming spy on assignment in the Alaskan wilderness where he is very dependent on government issued medication coming in blue and green colors designed to improve his mental and physical abilities, respectively.
However, when he watches a guided missile fired by an American drone blow up the cabin where he's been training, the sage spy instantly realizes that the Agency inexplicably now wants him dead, and he's almost out of the drugs he's become utterly dependent upon. This sets in motion the sort of frenetic, high body-count race against time we've come to expect of every Bourne episode.
The adrenaline-fueled adventure first brings our peripatetic hero in from the cold for a fix as well as for some answers. But he's only frustrated back at headquarters where he determines that a yellow pill recently added to his regimen has already killed his other colleagues in the top secret Blackbriar Program.
After convincing the gorgeous medical researcher (Rachel Weisz) monitoring his vital signs that she's on the hit list, too, the pair escape to the Philippines by way of Canada for a spectacular motorcycle chase scene replete with a hired hit man (Louis Ozawa Changchien), frightened pedestrians and a sacrificial fruit stand.
Don't be surprised to find the episode end in a way which sets the table for Bourne 5 as much as it closes the curtain on this action-packed roller coaster ride. A primer on how to make a successful sequel sans a hit franchise's title character, star and source material from the series' creator.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense action sequences.
Running time: 135 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
To see a trailer for The Bourne Legacy, visit
Film Review by Kam Williams
Childless Couple's Prayers Answered in Enchanting Fairytale
Jim (Joel Edgerton) and Cindy Green (Jennifer Garner) are very happily-married except for not having any kids. After being informed by Cindy's gynecologist (Rhoda Griffis), that she can't conceive, they scribble down all the qualities they'd hoped to pass on to the child they'll never have, starting with her good heart and his honesty to a fault.
Then, they bury the wish list in a box in the backyard right before a torrential rainfall arrives. To their astonishment a real live boy sprouts up in their garden overnight who, other than having leaves growing out of his legs, seems to be perfectly normal.
What's more, 10 year-old Timothy (CJ Adams) not only exhibits the positive traits desired by Cindy and Jim, but he refers to them as "Mom" and "Dad" without any prompting. While the Greens are certainly inclined to welcome their miraculous blessing with open arms, they are still hard-pressed to explain the sudden addition to the family to skeptical relatives and friends.
For sensitive Timothy, the adjustment is rather rocky, too, between being teased by bullies at school for wearing long socks, and being rejected at home for not being manly enough by his macho grandfather, Jim, Sr. (David Morse). He even frustrates his mom when she's fired by her boss (Dianne Wiest) on account of his compulsive frankness.
At least the little lost soul does find a kindred spirit in Joni (Odeya Rush), a shy classmate hiding a painful secret of her own. The harder a time Timothy has trying to measure up to the world's expectations, the more he retreats to a magical oasis of solitude he shares with this newfound friend.
Directed by Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), The Odd Life of Timothy Green is an enchanting fairytale designed for young and old alike. Credit a combination of seamless special effects and a talented cast for making it easy for the audience to suspend disbelief in the face of a supernatural storyline with an implausible premise.
Once that hurdle is scaled, a most-satisfying payoff which tugs on the heartstrings awaits anyone willing to invest in this instant Disney classic. Buy an extra ticket for the box of Kleenex you'll need to have sitting on the seat beside you.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes and mild epithets.
Running time: 125 minutes
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
To see a trailer for The Odd Life of Timothy Green, visit
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Dance Documentary Pays Tribute to Legendary Jacob's Pillow Festival
The Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival traces its roots back to the Thirties when it was founded on a farm nestled in the Berkshire Mountains by the legendary Ted Shawn (1891-1972). He envisioned the retreat as an oasis where modern dance might be practiced, choreographed and performed as a legitimate art form independent of classical ballet.
Other than being derailed by a temporary setback during The Depression, the festival's stature grew steadily over the ensuing years. In 1942, Shawn built a theater in a converted barn so that patrons could enjoy modern for modern's sake, free of the distracting trappings of a big city opera house.
Now celebrating its 80th anniversary, Jacob's Pillow is a veritable mecca recognized as America's longest-running dance festival. Directed by Ron Honsa, Never Stand Still is an enchanting tribute destined to delight both modern dance devotees and the curious alike.
Narrated by Bill T. Jones, this alternately educational and entertaining documentary divides its time between concert footage and informative interviews with industry icons like Merce Cunningham, Bill Irwin, Paul Taylor, Judith Jamison and Suzanne Farrell. We learn from the film that dance is definitely a calling and not a life for anyone who wants a secure career path, since you're always just an ingénue or an injury away from losing the limelight forever.
Jamison reminds us, however, that to reach the top, you have to be more than merely technically adept. Indeed, you need to be among those rarest of talents also capable of touching the human spirit.
Modern dance appreciated as a sacred endeavor enabling one to fly above the fray, if not literally, at the very least, vicariously.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 74 minutes
Distributor: First Run Features DVD Extras: Extended Interview with Merce Cunningham; Invisible Wings: The Carter Family Farm at Jacob's Pillow; Performance footage of Chunky Move in I Want to Dance Better at Parties; Mimulus in On the Left-Hand Side of Who Goes up the Street; and The Lombard Twins' C Jam Blues.
To see a trailer for Never Stand Still, visit
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Revealing Biopic Revisits Rise and Fall of Revered Reggae Icon
When most people think of Bob Marley, what probably comes to mind is reggae, Jamaica and marijuana. But how did a street urchin raised by a teen-mom in a country shack with no electricity manage to become a beloved icon admired all over the world?
That little-known side of Bob's life story is the subject of Marley, an intimate biopic produced by his son, Ziggy, and directed by Scotsman Kevin Macdonald. Because of the participation in the project of so many relatives, friends and colleagues, the picture paints a fascinating portrait which fully fleshes out its subject, thereby resisting the temptation of merely placing him on a pedestal.
At the point of departure we learn that Robert Nesta Marley was born in 1945 to Cedella Malcolm, a young local gal, and Captain Norval Marley, a British plantation overseer already in his 60s. Bob never really knew his father or the rest of the Marleys, a prominent family with a construction business on the island. In fact, his request for financial help to kickstart his career was rebuffed out of hand by his relatively-rich white relations.
Rejection was a recurring theme during Bob's formative years, when he was teased as a "half-caste" by other boys for being mixed. And he was equally unpopular with the opposite sex, since "Every girl's dream in Jamaica was to have a tall, dark boyfriend." He was even abandoned by his mom who moved to America while he was still in his teens.
Fortunately, Bob eventually found salvation through a love of music and the embrace of the Rastafarian community. Seeing his guitar as a way out of poverty, he let his hair grow while writing popular songs about equality, world peace, and cannabis, which is considered a sacred herb by the dreadlocked adherents of his pot-smoking religion.
After struggling to make it for over a decade while getting ripped-off by unscrupulous producers and promoters, Marley finally landed his big break in 1973 when he and the Wailers signed with Island Records. The group went on to record such hits as "One Love," "Jammin'," "No Woman No Cry," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Redemptive Song," "Get Up, Stand Up," "Stir It Up" and "Is This Love?" to name a few.
The 2½ hour combination concert/interview flick allocates a decent portion of time to archival footage of The Wailers' performing many of the aforementioned anthems. Attention is also devoted to the reflections of folks like Bob's widow, Rita, who talks about how she was really more of her his guardian angel than his wife.
After all, he had 11 children by 7 different women and often needed help juggling his groupies and baby-mamas. As Bob's attorney, Diane Jobson, explains it, her client considered himself faithful to God, if not his spouse.
Among Marley's many lovers was gorgeous Cindy Breakspeare, Miss Jamaica 1976, who went on to win the Miss World title. Not so lucky was Pascaline Ondimba, the daughter of the African nation of Gabon's prime minister. She recounts how Bob had called her "ugly" because she straightened her hair, and had encouraged her to cultivate and appreciate her natural beauty.
Sadly, Marley's life was marked by tragedy, too, including an assassination attempt and later the skin cancer to which he would succumb at the tender age of 36. Still, his "One Love" legacy is likely to withstand the test of time and inspire generations to come with its all-embracing message of understanding and tolerance.
A wonderfully-revealing, warts-and-all tribute to the human spirit of a Rasta rock god!
Excellent (4 stars)
Pated PG-13 for violent images, mature themes and cannabis consumption.
Running time: 145 minutes
Distributor: Magnolia Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Director's commentary; photo gallery; Bunny Wailer and Marley children interviews; bonus music footage; a mini-documentary; and the theatrical trailer.
To see a trailer for Marley, visit
To order a copy of Marley on DVD, visit
Film Review by Kam Williams
Dysfunctional Family Drama Revolves around Interracial Romance
16 year-old Kayla Tanaka (Nichole Bloom) is an aspiring artist with a promising future provided she keeps her nose to the grindstone while trying to land a college scholarship. But that's easier said than done since she's being raised in a rough area of Los Angeles where temptation lurks around every corner.
So, one might expect her parents to approve when she starts dating an equally-ambitious classmate (Robert Bailey, Jr.) from the other side of the proverbial tracks whose father is a successful, Harvard-trained lawyer. But no, Kayla's mother, Angie (Jessica Tuck), puts the kibosh on the liaison just as soon as she discovers that the object of her affection is African-American, ordering her daughter to "Get the [F-word] out of the house" because "you're sneaking around with a Goddamn [N-word]."
Unfortunately, it only falls on deaf ears when Kayla points out that her white mother's been in an interracial relationship with a Japanese man (Chris Tashima) for the past 22 years. Their marital status is about to change however, because Mrs. Tanaka has a terrible drug addiction that's frustrated her husband to the point of moving out of the house and filing for divorce.
Between their mom's habit and hypocrisy, it is only a matter of time until both Kayla and her younger sister, Amberlyn (Courtney Mun), rebel by hanging out with black guys anyway. Trouble is their new suitors aren't straitlaced like J.J., but stone-cold ghetto gangstas with not much of a future to speak of.
Kayla's lover, Treyshawn (Delon de Metz), is a 19 year-old drug dealer with his own car, while her sibling can be found hanging out in alleys swapping sexual favors for Chinese food. In the absence of a stable home life, the question soon becomes, can these girls be saved before spiraling totally out of control?
So unfolds Model Minority, a dysfunctional family drama marking a most impressive directorial/scriptwriting debut of Lily Mariye. An accomplished actress in her own right, Ms. Mariye is perhaps best known for portraying Nurse Lily Jarvik on the TV series ER.
Here, she proves to be quite the storyteller, spinning a quite compelling, cross-cultural, character-driven drama with its finger on the pulse. Considerable credit must also go to Nichole Bloom (Project X) for throwing herself into the emotionally-challenging role of Kayla with an admirable abandon.
A melting pot morality play about the temptations and travails of a couple of good girls gone bad.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 94 minutes
Distributor: Nice Girls Films
Film Review by Kam Williams
Cautionary Expose' Warns of Detroit's Impending Demise
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are a couple of inspired filmmakers who have kept their finger on the pulse since founding Loki Films a decade ago. Among the frequent collaborators' timely offerings are such critically-acclaimed documentaries as Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp (2006), the NAACP Image Award-winning The Boys of Baraka (2005) and the Peabody Award-winning 12th & Delaware (2010).
The talented pair's latest tour de force is Detropia, a pessimistic expose' chronicling the blight which has permeated Detroit, an enveloping decay heralding the perhaps impending demise of a once prestigious metropolis. Whether a cautionary tale or already a post mortem, the picture is most reminiscent of Michael Moore's Roger & Me (1989).
However, instead of searching for a missing, Michigan auto industry executive responsible for outsourcing, Ewing & Grady simply sought to preserve for posterity stark images of a ghost town resulting from callous, corporate cost-cutting measures. Detropia carefully constructs an impressionistic cinematic collage of a disturbing dystopia, alternating back and forth between arresting tableaus of an aging, urban exoskeleton and the plaintive laments of citizens swept up in a desperate struggling for survival.
For instance, we learn that so many manufacturing jobs have been downsized that half of Detroit's population has disappeared into thin air. Consequently, it is easy to find entire city blocks virtually abandoned, where only a handful of homes remain occupied.
Exasperated Mayor Dave Bing, a former NBA star with the Detroit Pistons, freely acknowledges that he has 40 square miles of vacant land on his hands. And equally-frustrated George McGregor, President of a United Auto Workers Local 22, finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to negotiate with a multinational company more than willing to relocate union jobs to Mexico.
Still, not all have lost hope in the midst of the misery. Consider the pranksters who altered the sign above a shuttered "AUTO PARTS" store to read "UTOPIA." Then there are the picketing, performance artists dressed like decadent 1%ers who satirize the rich by demanding money of perturbed passersby.
A simultaneously surrealistic and sobering warning that the Motor City's host of woes might be coming soon to a town near you.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 90 minutes
Distributor: Loki Films
Film Review by Kam Williams
Hedonistic Playboy Tries Platonic Relationship in Offbeat Romantic Romp
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are a couple of inspired filmmakers who have kept their finger on the pulse since founding Loki Films a decade ago. Among the frequent collaborators' timely offerings are such critically-acclaimed documentaries as Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp (2006), the NAACP Image Award-winning The Boys of Baraka (2005) and the Peabody Award-winning 12th & Delaware (2010).
The talented pair's latest tour de force is Detropia, a pessimistic expose' chronicling the blight which has permeated Detroit, an enveloping decay heralding the perhaps impending demise of a once prestigious metropolis. Whether a cautionary tale or already a post mortem, the picture is most reminiscent of Michael Moore's Roger & Me (1989).
However, instead of searching for a missing, Michigan auto industry executive responsible for outsourcing, Ewing & Grady simply sought to preserve for posterity stark images of a ghost town resulting from callous, corporate cost-cutting measures. Detropia carefully constructs an impressionistic cinematic collage of a disturbing dystopia, alternating back and forth between arresting tableaus of an aging, urban exoskeleton and the plaintive laments of citizens swept up in a desperate struggling for survival.
For instance, we learn that so many manufacturing jobs have been downsized that half of Detroit's population has disappeared into thin air. Consequently, it is easy to find entire city blocks virtually abandoned, where only a handful of homes remain occupied.
Exasperated Mayor Dave Bing, a former NBA star with the Detroit Pistons, freely acknowledges that he has 40 square miles of vacant land on his hands. And equally-frustrated George McGregor, President of a United Auto Workers Local 22, finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to negotiate with a multinational company more than willing to relocate union jobs to Mexico.
Still, not all have lost hope in the midst of the misery. Consider the pranksters who altered the sign above a shuttered "AUTO PARTS" store to read "UTOPIA." Then there are the picketing, performance artists dressed like decadent 1%ers who satirize the rich by demanding money of perturbed passersby.
A simultaneously surrealistic and sobering warning that the Motor City's host of woes might be coming soon to a town near you.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 90 minutes
Distributor: Loki Films
Film Review by Kam Williams
Billionaire Builds McMansion for Trophy Wife in Dysfunctional Family Documentary
Real estate mogul David Siegel founded Westgate Resorts back in the Seventies and went on to strike it rich selling luxury time shares in 28 locations around the country. Unfortunately, his obsession with work took a toll on his first marriage, but after a messy, decade-long divorce battle, he started another family with a gorgeous trophy wife 30 years his junior.
The 74 year-old CEO now has 7 children with Jackie, 8 if you count her orphaned niece they adopted. Although Siegel was already keeping his flamboyant, young spouse in the lap of luxury, against his better judgment he also agreed to build her the biggest and most expensive single-family home in the United States.
A replica of Louis XIV's 17th Century Palace of Versailles, plans for the sprawling, 90,000 square-foot estate included 10 kitchens, a grand ballroom with a staircase at either end, a skating rink, a bowling alley, a health spa, tennis courts, a baseball field, a performance theater, maids quarters, etcetera. But when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, the economic recession took a terrible toll on Siegel's entire empire.
Not only did he have to lay off 7,000 corporate employees at Westgate Resorts, but he also had to scale back his on his lavish lifestyle. The household staff shrank from 19 to 4, the kids were moved from private to public schools, and the family started flying on commercial airliners instead of by a private Gulfstream jet. In addition, the dream mansion project had to be halted halfway to completion when the bank threatened to foreclose on the property.
The stress started taking a toll on the Siegel marriage, too, especially after David tried to put Jackie on a budget. And when the reckless 43 year-old failed to implement some of the suggested cost-cutting measures, he went so far as to threaten to trade her in for a couple of cute 20 year-olds.
All of the above was captured on camera by Lauren Greenfield, the masterful director of The Queen of Versailles. The dysfunctional family documentary is compelling because it invites the audience to see just how decadently the other 1% lives which only makes it that much easier to take pleasure in their subsequent misfortunes.
A brilliant biopic which elicits an emotional response that's the epitome of schadenfreude!
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG for mature themes and mild epithets.
Running time: 101 minutes
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Film Review by Kam Williams
Ferrell and Galifianakis Square-Off as Funniest Candidates Money Can Buy
If you've been looking for a laugh-a-minute comedy as a refreshing alternative to all the kiddie flicks and bombastic summer blockbusters currently at the megaplexes, your wait is over. And what could be more timely than a picture about the dirty tricks being employed during a cutthroat political campaign?
The Campaign was directed by Jay Roach, a proven master of the comedy genre, a brainiac best known for making Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers trilogy. The movie stars Will Ferrell as Cam Brady, a popular North Carolina Congressman who's running unopposed for his fifth term in office until an Anthony Weiner-level peccadillo becomes public knowledge.
That boneheaded blunder opens the door for a nerdy, unworthy opponent like Marty Higgins (Zach Galifianakis) to enter the race because he's being bankrolled by a couple of very wealthy businessman. Glen (John Lithgow) and Wade Motch (Dan Aykroyd) are sleazy, power-hungry siblings ostensibly patterned after the billionaire Koch brothers, notorious backers of arch-conservative causes.
Bragging about being "candidate creators" more than "job creators," the Motches specifically seize on naïve Marty since he's so malleable. Unseen behind the scenes, they orchestrate a complete overhaul of Higgins' image with the help of a no-nonsense campaign manager (Dylan McDermott).
Soon, Brady realizes he's in the fight of his life, as both sides resort to increasingly-devious tactics to prevail on Election Day. For instance, we find Marty wearing what he calls a "Yamaha" on his head during services at a synagogue, while Cam sings in the gospel choir of a black Baptist Church and plays with rattlesnakes to curry favor with the congregation of a sect of serpent-handling evangelists.
But despite his best efforts, Brady continues to sabotage his own campaign at every turn, whether by accidentally punching a baby and a puppy, or by being caught having sex with a supporter in a port-o-john. And as the polls indicate that the tide is turning decisively in Marty's favor, the focus becomes whether he'll be a tool of the Motch brothers or choose to do what's best for his district.
Will Ferrell's over-the-top approach to Cam serves as the perfect counterpoint to Zach Galifianakis' relatively-subdued interpretation of sweet-natured Marty. The film also features several inspired support performances, most notably, Dylan McDermott and Jason Sudeikis as devious campaign managers and Karen Maruyama as an ebonics-accented Asian housekeeper.
Throw in amusing cameos by a neverending string of political pundits like Bill Maher, Wolf Blitzer, Chris Matthews, Piers Morgan, Joe Scarborough, Lawrence O'Donnell, Willie Geist, Mika Brezinski, Ed Schultz and Dennis Miller, and you've got all the makings for a bona fide election year hit. Ferrell and Galifianakis hit their stride as the funniest candidates money can buy!
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexuality, nudity and crude humor.
Running time: 97 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Film Review by Kam Williams
Carefree Cherub Laments Climate Change in Enchanting Cautionary Parable
6 year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) is being raised under the radar in "The Bathtub," a backwoods bayou located on the swamp side of a Louisiana levee. The self-sufficient tomboy divides her days between attending to her sickly father (Dwight Henry) and living in harmony with a handful of other hardy refugees from civilization.
Hushpuppy feels sorry for children growing up on the land in nearby New Orleans because they eat fish wrapped in plastic and have been taught to fear the water. And while those city kids were caged in strollers and baby carriages during their formative years, she's been free to explore surroundings teeming with vegetation and a menagerie of wildlife.
Yet, her existence is far from idyllic, given how much she pines for the mother her ostensibly-widowed daddy explained simply "swam away" one day. The heartbroken little girl tries to fill the void via flights of fancy coming courtesy of a vivid imagination that enables her to carry on imaginary conversations with her long-lost mom.
Hushpuppy's vulnerability is further amplified by her father's failing health and by an ominous foreboding that climate change could destabilize the eco-system of her natural habitat. For, she's been warned by Miss Bathsheeba (Gina Montana), a sage soothsayer who also serves as her surrogate mother, that "The trees are gonna die first, then the animals, then the fish."
So unfolds Beasts of the Southern Wild, a compelling, coming-of-age parable marking the extraordinary directorial debut of Benh Zeitlin. An early entry in the Academy Awards sweepstakes, this surreal fairy tale about the prospects of the planet so richly deserves all the accolades already heaped upon it at Sundance, Cannes and other film festivals.
Considerable credit must go to newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis, a talented youngster who not only portrays protagonist Hushpuppy but narrates the film as well. Like a clever cross of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, the movie repeatedly reminds us of a pre-pollution, pre-digital era when children were still encouraged to plunge headlong into nature to experience the world firsthand rather than artificially through electronic stimuli.
A visually-enchanting fantasy shot from the perspective of a naïve waif magically untouched by the 21st Century.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, mature themes, child imperilment, disturbing images and brief sensuality.
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Film Review by Kam Williams
Coming-of-Age Drama Revolves around Lesbian-Curious Latinas
Besides being 15 year-old Chicanas, Yolanda "Mosquita" Olveros (Fenessa Pineda) and Mari Rodriguez (Venecia Troncoso) are about as different as night and day. The former is a straight-A student and the only child of overprotective parents (Joaquin Garrido and Laura Patalano) with high expectations for their dutiful daughter. The latter, by contrast, is a relatively-troubled rebel being raised by an overwhelmed widow (Dulce Maria Solis) who's been struggling just to keep a roof over their heads since entering the U.S. illegally after the death of her husband.
The Rodriguez's plight as undocumented immigrants means that Mari has to work part-time to help out her mom financially, a burden that has taken a toll on the kid academically. Consequently, the grieving, underachieving street urchin has learned to mask her pain with a tough "I could care less" veneer.
Mari and Mosquita's paths do cross when the Rodriguez family moves next-door to the Olveros in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood located in the Huntington Park area of L.A. The two sophomores initially forge a grudging friendship at school, trading off tutoring in geometry for protection from a clique of mean girls.
But soon, they're happily spending so much time together in the afternoons and evenings that Mari loses her job while Mosquita's grades start to suffer. The plot thickens as it becomes clear that these polar opposites are not only lesbian-curious but experiencing barely-contained pangs of puppy love for each other.
Tension builds as the schoolgirl crush blossoms into a passion simmering close to the surface as each waits for the other to make the first a move. But the best these awkward neophytes can do is snuggle under a blanket while studying and scribble their names in a dirty automobile's dust.
Finally, the moment of truth arrives after a handsome boy asks attractive Mosquita for a date around the same time that a seedy man offers cash-strapped Mari money for sexual favors. At that point, obviously, something's gotta give.
The question is whether or not they're ready to take a big leap.
Marking the marvelous writing and directorial debut of Aurora Guerrero, Mosquita y Mari is a subtle exploration of coming out from the perspective of introspective adolescents at an awkward age. However, the movie has much more to offer, as it is equally sensitive in its examination of a variety of issues of urgent concern to the Latino community.
To think that in just one generation we've gone from Chico and the Man to Chica and the Girl!
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
In Spanish and English with subtitles
Running time: 85 minutes
Distributor: The Film Collaborative
Directed by Véréna Paravel and J. P. Sniadecki documentary "Foreign Parts" about the Willets Point section of Queens recieves NY Times Critics' Pick.
It’s a safe bet that the Willets Point section of Queens, setting and subject of the new documentary “Foreign Parts,” does not figure in many New York tourist itineraries, though it has starred in a movie before, Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop.” This battered stretch of junkyards and auto repair shops may thrive (or fester, depending on your point of view) in the shadow of Citi Field, but it seems a universe away from that gleaming corporate food court where the Mets occasionally win a baseball game.
Read the review on The New York Times
Download Film (Available in the US only)
Something’s rotten in the state of Jiabo, where the king is dead, the queen has married her brother-in-law, the prince is acting crazy and his girlfriend is even crazier. Nothing ends well in “Prince of the Himalayas,” a high-altitude “Hamlet” that takes several liberties with Shakespeare’s plot but reps a muscular, boldly dramatic trip into a fanciful ancient Tibet. Considering the breathtaking landscapes, the reckless but effective camerawork and the star turn by young Tibetan comer Purba Rgyal, a festival run seems assured. Theatrical success may seem as remote as Lhasa, but it’s a heck of a calling-card movie.
Read full film review at Variety
Download to Own (US and Canada)
Something’s rotten in the state of Jiabo, where the king is dead, the queen has married her brother-in-law, the prince is acting crazy and his girlfriend is even crazier. Nothing ends well in “Prince of the Himalayas,” a high-altitude “Hamlet” that takes several liberties with Shakespeare’s plot but reps a muscular, boldly dramatic trip into a fanciful ancient Tibet. Considering the breathtaking landscapes, the reckless but effective camerawork and the star turn by young Tibetan comer Purba Rgyal, a festival run seems assured. Theatrical success may seem as remote as Lhasa, but it’s a heck of a calling-card movie.
Read full film review at Variety
Download to Own (US and Canada)
Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
Photographer Francesca Woodman died years ago. It is apparent from how her parents, sculptor Betty, and painter George, speak distantly of her. The pain is still there, but it’s not as acute as it must have been when they found out. The Woodmans are a family of artists. Charlie, Francesca’s older brother, a video artist, faces the camera to give insight into who Francesca was, what their childhood was like with such intense, parental mountains, who believed, and still believe, that art is paramount. The elder Woodmans are not full of themselves. Their art is quite good, and part of the framework of this documentary from filmmaker C. Scott Willis is Betty creating artwork for the American Embassy in China, so we can see what she looks like when she’s creating. The same goes for George, who we see painting, as well as examples of his own work.
Read full review on Movie Gazette Online
Crazy Wisdom makes The Global Culture Girl's Guide to Last Minute Gifts on Huffington Post:
My favorite pastime is watching films. But not just any moving pictures, ones that will change my life. Fortunately, just in time for Christmas, three DVDs of personal favorites are available to buy and there is no excuse not to infuse your friends' lives with a little culture and a lot of cinematic love. ... for the spiritual junkies in your lives Crazy Wisdom is both entertaining and extremely enlightening.
Mashabble.com gave this review of the Taqwacore doc by the Canadian filmmaker Omar Majeed:
Stripped down and laid bare of all cultural referents,Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam is a rock ‘n’ roll road movie. Made by Canadian filmmaker Omar Majeed, it feels similar to its frenetic and lionized antecedent Another State of Mind, which showcased and documented the efforts of Better Youth Organization-related bands, like Youth Brigade and Social Distortion, to tour and connect disparate communities in far flung locales during the heyday of early ‘80s hardcore punk.
Yet that analogy doesn’t encompass the full breadth of this film. With stealth, the filmmaker and participants dissect America’s so-called mosaic or melting pot culture in-depth by examining the tale of emergent Muslim-American youth. In doing so, it exposes fervent politics, abundant identity crises, varied social, religious, and inter-generational conflicts, and undeniable mixed cultural heritage.
Intimate Stranger," says Berliner, "walks the fine line between sorting the dirty family laundry and polishing the precious family jewel." Family members try to make sense of it all in this witty, candid and cinematically inventive documentary biography.
"Funny, probing and so wholly original in both style and
substance as to seem completely without precedent...
brilliant, one-of-a-kind film...the remarkable life of a
seemingly average man presents a figure as complicated and
enthralling as any fictional character in recent memory...
intoxicating montage...expertly pieced together...
a spectacular high-wire feat by a fledgling master."
— THE WASHINGTON POST
"Compellingly eccentric...powerful, bittersweet...
a rich, tumultuous portrait of family life..."
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
Embedded with a group of Danish soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force responsible, along with British allies, for providing security for the locals in remote Helmand, Afghanistan, Metz gives us glimpses of the soldier's life amid warfare, 21st-century style, that will look familiar to American viewers of such similar domestic products as Severe Clear and Restrepo. The company of young men kill time through macho horseplay or dissecting the plots of porn movies, lament the boredom of inaction, and try to establish friendly contact with the local farmers, justifiably upset by the Danes (and Brits and Americans) destroying their crops and homes and unwilling to cooperate for fear of Taliban reprisal.
Read full review at Slant Magazine
“Le Quattro Volte,” an idiosyncratic and amazing new film by Michelangelo Frammartino, is so full of surprises — nearly every shot contains a revelation, sneaky or overt, cosmic or mundane — that even to describe it is to risk giving something away.
A large part of the appeal of ''Himalaya'' comes from the breathtaking beauty of its setting, the mountainous, sparsely populated Dolpo region of Nepal. Exquisitely filmed in Cinemascope, a format whose wide frames and panoramic angles emphasize the lonely grandeur of the landscape, the movie offers an intoxicating dose of armchair tourism, like a National Geographic pictorial brought to life.
Premiering in the documentary competition at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, Alex Mar’s American Mystic is a poem of a film, following three young people in America who have chosen to make their spiritual practice the center of their lives. A pagan priestess who proudly defines herself as a witch, Morpheus has moved to the outskirts of rural California to create a pagan sanctuary on a small plot of land. Kublai, a Spiritualist medium, works on a farm in upstate New York but spends his off hours with his head in the hands of elderly women, learning to channel spirits. Chuck, a Lakota Sioux, barely scrapes by at his day job in the city, but he and his wife are raising their child with their ancestors’ way of life as their guide, taking long trips to the reservation to participate in the traditions that are still alive.
Do dreams, especially the portentous kind that you cannot easily shake off, predict the future? That question is investigated in “The Edge of Dreaming,” a deeply personal film by Amy Hardie, a Scottish science documentarian whose world was shaken after she experienced a series of related nightmares.
Very insightful review from Slant Magazine of The Sound of Insects by Diego Costa:
Surprisingly not macabre, this fictionalized record of self-aggrandizement through self-destruction reminds one of Derek Jarman's Blue in its epistolary delivery and its displacement of meaning to that which is never really shown. One can also think of writer Yukio Mishima's seppuku, performance artist Fred Herko's jeté out the window (Andy Warhol was bummed for not having caught the moment of the plunge in a photograph), and the HIV-chasing politics of Guillaume Dustan, who also turned the courting of death into literature through barebacking. But the anonymous suicidal performer mummy in The Sound of Insects is less interested in the grand finale, more focused on his very shriveling. Still it is death as spectacle, even if a quietly murmured one, that links all of these performers.
Niko von Glasow and Bianca Vogel in "NoBody’s Perfect."
How rare is it to discover a documentary about disability that scorns “differently abled” euphemisms and rhapsodies of inner beauty? Rare enough to make “NoBody’s Perfect” an exemplar of fresh-air filmmaking that addresses the devastating legacy of the drug thalidomide with acidic wit and grumpy honesty.
It is quite a treat to see the Dalai Lama exercising on a treadmill just like millions of other people around the world. Although his Buddhist philosophy is focused on the mind, he sees the importance of taking good care of the body. The director, who provides a running commentary on his activities, notes at one point that it's a paradox that a man of nonviolence is surrounded by armed body guards. But given the continuing tension between China and Tibet, these are necessary precautions. More than 200 study at the monastery and listen to teachings given by the Dalai Lama, which can run from one to five hours. We see him giving a lecture with references to the Big Bang, the self, and compassion as "the basic nature of the mind."
Download to Own Taqwacore or watch film trailer
While the idea of punk rock Muslims might sound ridiculous to some people and to others it might even be blasphemous, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, Taqwacore: The Birth Of Punk Islam is inspiring and hopeful. Not only do those involved dispel any stereotypes you might have about Muslims, they also show how it is possible to be a religious person without letting your religion dictate who and what you are as an individual. The underlying message of tolerance and respect, mixed with a healthy dose of the benevolent chaos of punk, is one the world could stand hearing over and over again.
In a remote wintry forest, a hunter discovers the mummified corpse of a 40-year-old man. A diary is found near the body, detailing the man’s everyday thoughts as he commits suicide through self-imposed starvation. Based on an incredible true story, and adapted from the novella “Until I am a Mummy“ by Shimada Masahiko, Peter Liecthi’s THE SOUND OF INSECTS is a stunning investigation into the mystery of the man’s enigmatic self-destructive motivations. Taking on his point-of-view, the film presents the notebook entries as stream-of-consciousness musings on the world around him as his body dissipates, an attempt to piece together the causes of his disillusionment. With luminous cinematography of the vaulting trees that surround his tented tomb, and of hallucinated memories of the cities and people he left behind, THE SOUND OF INSECTS is a hypnotic and transcendent meditation on how the renunciation of life paradoxically reveals its beauty.
Watch film trailer on your computer, on iPad, on iPod or on iPhone (automatic resolution)
In Emmanuel Laurent’s new documentary, “Two in the Wave,” the “two” are the filmmakers François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. The wave, needless to say, is La Nouvelle Vague, a journalistic name that not only stuck to Truffaut, Mr. Godard and their colleagues, but that also changed the way film history is understood.
Watch a trailer (Flash) and read the overview
Watch a film trailer in Standard Definition (Computer HD, iPhone, iPad)
In 2006, The Public Theater in New York City mounted an outdoor production of Mother Courage and Her Children, which boasted a new translation by Tony Kushner, featured Streep and the great Kevin Kline, and was directed by the Public’s George C. Wolfe. Written in 1939 largely in response to the invasion of Poland by Hitler’s German army, the play is about the devastating effects of war and the blindness of anyone hoping to profit by it. Nearly seven decades later—as the war in Iraq wages on with no discernible end—Brecht’s play has a lamentable resonance. That is, it rhymes.
Walter takes us behind the scenes, including unprecedented access into Streep’s artistic process. He interweaves these scenes with enthralling details about the play’s author, including a pivotal moment of Brecht’s brilliant testimony before the House Un- American Activities Committee, when he gave a brilliant performance and quickly departed the stage and the country.
THEATER OF WAR is more than a backstage pass. It’s an engrossing and fiercely intelligent look at war and capitalism, and their regrettable dependence on one another. But even more, it’s about the power—if not responsibility—of art and artists to cast a light on that which we prefer not to see.
Starring: Meryl Streep and Bertolt Brecht
Directed By: John Walter
Most Americans have no trouble believing that God exists, but they are uncertain about whether an American ruling class exists. They seem to think the idea of a ruling class is restricted to European aristocracies of yore and assorted eastern potentates of today. In The American Ruling Class Lewis Lapham takes a wry trip across America, ostensibly to educate two fresh-faced graduates about the ways of power and privilege. Some of their interlocutors express puzzlement about the very idea of a ruling class in America, while others seize on the phrase with palpable disdain for anyone who has doubts about the concept. The result of these conversations is instructive and sobering; I was particularly struck by the sheer difficulty of living in America on a standard working wage—the kind a waiter might expect to earn. Clearly, some people earn too little, while others “earn” too much. Surely there can be no serious doubt that a minority of the population commands more power per capita than the majority: some people own disproportionately large amounts and have access to political power that is commensurate to their wealth. If that is what we mean by a ruling class, then there indubitably exists one in America. Read more on Colin McGinn Blog
Related: The American Ruling Class
In Religulous, Bill Maher was on a satirical quest to find God and understand religion while laughing at the extraordinary claims by the religious. The advertising guru, Simon Cole, took a completely different approach in his documentary film "So Help Me God." It’s not a comedy, but rather it is a drama – portraying a real spiritual quest to find God.
Instead of laughing at the religious and what they say, he listened and asked questions trying to understand God. Going from one religion to another, from one denomination to another, he begins to realize that the question is not only where God is, but who’s God is the right one. Everyone is convinced their God is the one, but how can you truly believe it if there are so many religions in the world?
It was delightful when occasional, genuine humor would distract you from the truth. While talking to Presbyterians about homosexuals one of the older guys, probably in his 70 said, "Don’t you love that all these fundamentalists quote the King James Version; and he was as queer as three dollar bill."
You can’t help but laugh.
If you want something refreshing, something personal, and powerful – watch "So Help Me God." As an atheist you will see religion from a different perspective and as a theist you will enjoy Simon’s search for God. It’s very healthy to search for the unknown as it takes courage, especially when the unknown defies the mainstream status quo.
A personal master piece that will leave your mind in a deep thought contemplating about your own spiritual state of mind. You owe it to yourself to watch it.
Read the original article here or watch «So Help Me God» trailer.
1 comment ( 2156 views )Posted by Mark Zhuravsky
You might think you know what to expect of this film on the basis of the title. Yet, shoehorning So Help Me God into the category of spiritual documentaries would not be quite right, as the film is a highly personal story of exploration, brisk yet thought-provoking, not to mention visually captivating. Our protagonist is one Simon Cole, a well-off man, happily married and seemingly economically unburdened. Simon however carries a load he regretfully cannot drop off his shoulders--he greatly longs for a connection to God. This is a presence Simon does not have in his life and he is driven to at the very least understand it.
As such, he strikes out on the journey that will be the subject of the documentary, done in collaboration with his two brothers Ben and Nigel Cole. With a background in commercials, the brothers bring a visually expressive eye to the proceedings, adding a new dimension of sight and sound that keeps the documentary from slipping into dry discussion. It helps that Simon is a personable and earnest interviewer who does not hesitate to bare his regrets and fears to the camera. The film also benefits from a variety of religious figureheads who share their opinions with a candid openness that echoes throughout the film.
This is an honest attempt to explore one man’s religious conundrum, yet Simon personifies those of us who have questioned their faith or lack thereof. He is earnest and steadfast, a narrator without a shadowy agenda to ridicule or challenge the beliefs of those he encounters and questions. He is burdened by his dilemma and seeks an answer to it in any way he knows how. The final scenes of Simon isolating himself to the desert for some serious soul-searching are among the most emotionally affecting in the film – you can see the exhaustion and difficulty to cope transcribed on Simon’s face. So Help Me God is his story, and it is an exhilarating one.
The enthusiasm of Nollywood Babylon is infectious. Focusing on the widely unknown (in the U.S., at least) Nigerian film industry, this documentary speeds its way through seventeen years of their film history. Starting in 1992, the video market in Lagos has provided financial opportunities for hundreds of actors and directors making thousands of films. Clocking in at about 2500 films a year, Nigeria has the third largest film industry (the first and second being the U.S. and India, respectively). Seeing the passion that these artists share for films showing the real experiences of Nigerians, and the love of Nollywood itself, is inspiring for independent filmmakers everywhere, struggling to get their little pictures made.
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