Film Reviews

It begins as a contest of strength the challenge of competition luring fighters from far away to a hilltop castle. Deathstalker leads the combatants but only to discover that the winners are disappearing one by one. Now, in his last and greatest battle, Deathstalker must defend his remaining comrades, his life, and his newfound love in battle against an evil army of stone warriors and the wicked queen who created them.

Biopic of the great French ocean-going adventurer and filmmaker

A chance meeting between British nobleman and lovely young Mistral foils a plot by her manipulating Aunt Emilie to avenge the death of her sister, Mistral's mother, who died in childbirth. But when an unscrupulous blackmailer and a rapacious Rajah enter the plot, the growing attraction between Lord and convent girl becomes yet more fraught with Danger.

From Writer/Director Marina Rice Bader (Executive Producer Elena Undone, A Perfect Ending) comes this film within a film that explores love in all its painful and messy glory. Six months ago Zoe and Mal fell for each other while filming a love scene, which led to an intense, whirlwind affair, followed by a devastating breakup. Soon after their split, things get complicated when the two have to meet on set once more to re-shoot that fateful sequence.

French cybernetics genius Victor Frankenstein carries on the work of his notorious ancestor and creates a monster, albeit one with a penchant for philosophy, etiquette and occasional bouts of murderous rage. But when the creature develops a hunger for l'amour, Frankenstein and his understanding fiancé use a cache of freshly murdered strippers to build the creature a beautiful yet dutiful bride. Can the undead find true love in a cold world, or will the French ways of passion unleash some monstrous surprises upon them all?

The film tells the story of the Communist Labour College that opened in the 1960s. Long Guozheng, an emissary from the Communist government and Li Jinfeng, a female peasant student, must fight against the school's more conservative elements. In the film's climax, Li is put on trial and is about to be expelled from the school when she is saved by a pronouncement from Chairman Mao himself.

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.

Taiwan in the year 2000, only thirteen years after the lifting of Marshall Law rule and still an unruly place referred to by many as the “Wild, Wild East,” provides a perfect setting for The Taiwan Oyster. Masquerading as a bender road-­‐movie, the darkly comic film explores deep existentialist questions as the protagonists journey deeper and deeper into the Taiwanese countryside. Darin and Simon’s quest for the perfect burial spot becomes a strange trip down Taiwan’s picturesque East Coast Highway as they encounter the unique cultures of Taiwan, welcoming families, violent gangsters, and Nikita, another lost soul who joins their odyssey. Along the way, they explore the Southeast Asian ex-­patriot experience, their own personal demons, and the universal questions that arise when one is confronted with an untimely death.

A New York cop investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.

Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the Internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes.

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

Depeche Mode 101 is a fascinating documentary codirected by the esteemed D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room, Down from the Mountain), focusing on backstage realities of art and business during the British synthesizer band's 1988 American tour. We see managers worrying over slow ticket sales for a stand at the Rose Bowl, observe sound checks at concert sites, get a tour of the group's multiple keyboard banks, and listen with some alarm to singer David Gahan describe his steroid-based throat treatments. There are plenty of performance clips, but for music alone, disc 2 in this package contains the uninterrupted Rose Bowl show, including the plaintive "Blasphemous Rumours," the exultant drama of "Stripped," and the dreamy "Somebody." Pennebaker's promotional video "Everything Counts" is also here, but don't miss the director's recent, touching, and informative interviews with the now 40-something, individual members of Depeche Mode. --Tom Keogh

Ourense, Spain, 1940. Every time that Elena locks the door, she locks her secrets. Her husband Ricardo spend years hidden in his house with his children (Elenita and Lorenzo), trying to dodge persecution. Salvador, a priest confused after battling in the front, returns to seminary in Ourense.

Young Tim Cornish's life has begun with great promise. Blessed with extraordinary good looks, Tim enjoyed much attention and cared little of broken hearts. At University he was a favored student in a prestigious creative writing course, but a chance meeting, a stolen kiss and a sudden flare of passion sets Tim on a journey of betrayal, heartbreak and murder. In a flashback, he tells his story of cruelty, love and a soul-destroying guilt that offers little chance for redemption.

Directed by Slavko Spionjak.