Film Reviews

Benjamin is a 16 year old half-side spastic with lousy grades in math, who switches to a boarding school to reach grammar school. Acclimatization to the new environment is difficult in the first place and he has to struggle with the various problems of coming of age, when he falls in love to the school's dream girl Malen.

A satirical drama revealing the consequences of the Danish government's "New Copenhagen Criteria", a new policy aiming at securing the nation's survival. Citizens who fail to meet the criteria - those who have received more from society than what they have contributed - are eliminated.

The 8th Godzilla film is aimed at an even younger audience than its predecessors. In the South Seas, scientists conducting weather experiments encounter gigantic mantises and a giant spider that are attacking Godzilla's offspring.

When his star recruit botches a Major League Baseball debut, humiliated talent scout Al Percolo (Albert Brooks) gets banished to rural Mexico, where he finds a potential gold mine in the arm of young phenom Steve Nebraska (Brendan Fraser). Soon, the Bronx Bombers put a $55 million contract on the table -- provided a psychiatrist (Dianne Wiest) can affirm Nebraska's mental stability. Watch for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's cameo.

Ryan and Pete are 27-year old best friends in Miami, born on the same day and each searching for the perfect woman. Ryan is a rookie stockbroker living with his psychic Mom. Pete is a slick surfer dude yet to find commitment. Each meets the women of their dreams on the same day. Ryan knocks heads in an elevator with the gorgeous Jessica, passing out before getting her number. Pete falls for the insatiable Tiara, but Tiara's uncle is mob boss Vincent Bublione, charged with her protection. This high-energy romantic comedy asks to what extent will you go for true love?

Looking to outrun the horrors of his past, a tormented cabbie flees Helsinki for an apartment complex in the suburbs, only to discover that new neighbors bring new problems. What ensues is a raw, realistic tragedy with an unwaveringly humane core.

A musical drawing room farce set in Paris in October, 1925. Gilberte, in middle-age, flirts with men but loves her husband Georges, wishing he were more demonstrative. He's negotiating a deal with an American, Eric Thomson, who turns out to be Gilberte's first husband from an annulled and secret stateside marriage. Along with her sister Arlette, Gilberte begs Eric not to tell Georges about the marriage. Meanwhile, a young artist, Charly, pursues Gilberte while Arlette tries to match him with the young Huguette, who loves him. Will Eric play along or try to re-win Gilberte's affection? Can Gilberte play one off against another? And who will manage to kiss whom on the lips?

Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before Tracy's new world and attitude finally takes a toll on her, her family, and old friends.

This movie is about the tawaif Sahibjaan (Meena Kumari), who is born to a courtesan, Nargis (also Meena Kumari). After being spurned by her lover Shahabuddin's (Ashok Kumar) family, Nargis is driven to a graveyard where she gives birth to Sahibjaan secretly. Nargis dies during childbirth and her sister Nawabjaan (Veena)- a brothel madam - brings her up as her own. Unable to break away from the vicious circle, Sahibjaan grows up to be a beautiful and popular dancer/singer. Forest ranger Salim Ahmed Khan (Raaj Kumar), enthralled by her beauty and innocence, eventually convinces her to elope with him, which she does. But trials and tribulations await Sahibjaan as she is recognized by men wherever she goes in the company of Salim.

The film is set in the distant future in a city called Cahmpon. A scientist creates a synthetic life-form called Noiseman, which erases music from the airwaves by turning it into crystals. A group of Biker street kids rebels against this tyranny.

"Breaking Point" is a dramatic tale of corruption and self-realization, in which one man has to overcome a deep seeded conspiracy and his own lingering past in order to gain the redemption he desires.

Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep.

A modern take on the classic fairytale, Alice in Wonderland, set in South East England.An American law student in London. Knocked down by a black cab, she wakes with amnesia in a world that's a million miles from home - Wonderland. We follow her adventures as she's dragged through an underworld filled with twisted individuals and the lowest low-lifers, by the enigmatic cab driver, Whitey. She needs to find out who she is, where she's from and use what wits she has left to get back home in one piece. As her journey progresses she discovers nothing is what it seems, realizes that fate and life are terminally entwined, and finds true love lurking in the unlikeliest place.

A Tokyo family escaping the war relocates to a Hokkaido village; their daughter is set to marry the local leader's son, but her siblings disapprove.

An ancestral city; through its delicious botanical garden and its branched canals, we observe the clues and traces of its ancient culture. Two couples of men and women, former lovers, meet again one year later. The yesterday's breath of youth is still perceptible in their conversations. Is it still possible for us to love? Does youth really have an end? Like the networks linking the old city, what type of ecological existence does their culture require? Written by Venice Film Festival