Film Reviews

Award-winning director Fatih Akin takes us on a journey through Istanbul, the city that bridges Europe and Asia, and challenges familiar notions of east and west. He looks at the vibrant musical scene which includes traditional Turkish music plus rock and hip-hop.

An eccentric, fluttery bachelor is dismayed to discover an undressed woman in his apartment. Comedy.

An artist struggles to finish his work while a storyline about a cult plays in his head.

A group of students cope with the disappearance of their friend.

Confessions of a Police Captain (Italian: Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica, also known as Confessions of a Police Commissioner to the District Attorney) is an Italian crime-drama film about a cop starring Franco Nero and Martin Balsam who is caught up in suffocating and incriminating big city "corruption." Nero tries desperately to bring an elusive criminal to justice who has been a thorn in his side for many years. This cop has a tough decision to make; does he turn in his partner or turn his head? The film won the Golden Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1971 and the Prix lntemational de l'Academie du Cinema at the Étoile de Cristal Awards in 1972.

Mike (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a stuntman who works with his girlfriend Jane (Raquel Welch). On their wedding day Mike and Jane are forced by producers to do a stunt for a film they are working on. Mike, annoyed doesn't look on the road and crashes the car causing them to end up in a hospital. After they come out Jane doesn't want to talk to Mike so he decides to get her a job in a film in which he is a stunt double for his double who is a star in action pictures but is in fact a wimp.

Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's (Irma P. Hall) turn sour when sisters Teri (Vanessa L. Williams), Bird (Nia Long) and Maxine (Vivica A. Fox) start bringing their problems to the dinner table in this ensemble comedy. When tragedy strikes, it's up to grandson Ahmad (Brandon Hammond) to pull the family together and put the soul back into the family's weekly gatherings. Michael Beach, Mekhi P

Lisbela is a young woman who loves going to the movies. Leléu is a con man, going from town to town selling all sort of things and performing as master of ceremonies for some cheesy numbers, such as the woman who gets transformed into a gorilla. He gets involved with Linaura, a sexy and beautiful woman who happens to be the wife of the most frightening hitman of the place. The hitman finds out his wife's affair and goes after Leléu, who has to leave in a hurry. In another town, he meets and falls instantly in love with Lisbela, who is engaged to Douglas, a hillbilly who tries hard to pass for a cosmopolitan Rio de Janeiro dweller.

A married couple loses their children while on a family trip near some caves in Tijuana. The kids eventually reappear without explanation, but it becomes clear that they are not who they used to be, that something terrifying has changed them.

An industrial-espionage group calls on a retired spy (Frank Langella) living with his wife (Faye Dunaway) and children in Paris. To force him back to his old job, his children will be kidnapped.

Just in time for the joyous holiday season, this film connects the ancient Mayan prophecy of worldwide destruction at the end of 2012, and the iconic holiday song, The 12 Days of Christmas. But there is hope: a father learns that his daughter is really the "Chosen One" who, alone, can stop further catastrophe - if he can stave off the lunatic townspeople blaming her for the community's destruction.

The life and career of Erwin Rommel and his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler.

Gabriel tells the story of an archangel who fights to bring light back to purgatory - a place where darkness rules - and save the souls of the city's inhabitants.

The film is based on a true story: the tragic life of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu. This movie chronicles her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s. Actress Maggie Cheung portrayed Ruan in this movie. Nicknamed the "Chinese Garbo," Ruan Lingyu began her acting career when she was 16 years old and committed suicide at age 24. The film alternates between present scenes (production talks between director Kwan, Cheung, and co-star Carina Lau, interviews of witnesses who knew Ruan), re-creation scenes with Cheung (as Ruan, acting inside this movie), and extracts from Ruan's original films including her final two films The Goddess and New Women.

U.S. Marine Sergeant O'Hara has his hands full training raw recruits, one of whom, 'Skeets' Burns, is a particular thorn in his side. If Burns's lackadaisical approach to the military were not bad enough, he also makes advances on nurse Nora Dale, whom Sergeant O'Hara secretly loves. Nora is oblivious to O'Hara's feelings and is attracted to the handsome 'Skeet.' But an indiscretion turns her against him, and it takes an expedition to China and a battle with a warlord's bandit brigade to sort things out among the nurse and her two Marines.