Film Reviews

When an heiress sues a newspaper, the editor hires a reporter to compromise her.

A businessman's professional struggles begin to conflict with his personal life over the course of two days.

Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story is a made-for-TV film starring Australian actress Poppy Montgomery. The film, which was shot in B.C. Canada locations altered to look like British locations, details the journey of struggling single mother J. K. Rowling, her bid to become a published author, and her rise to fame that followed the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The film aired on Lifetime on July 18th and was criticized for being too lacklustre (mainly down to the fiercely private author having no say in the production) but it also shed some light on her personal life and featured scenes such as her highly abusive first husband and the death of her mother. The eponymous J.K. Rowling is the world's first billionaire (in terms of US dollars) author and the films inspired by her books have been the highest grossing films of all time. Poppy Montgomery reportedly got blue contact lenses to play the role of the highly influential author.

Adapted from a series of short stories by Norwegian author Levi Henriksen, Bent Hamers Home for Christmas weaves together the lives of people struggling to find their way home on a Christmas Eve, beneath the colors of the Northern Lights. The plot unfolds during a few afternoon hours on Christmas Eve. The individual stories, which at times intertwine, are set in the small town Skogli. The characters in the stories cover a great range in age and life situations, representing both reconciliation with their own lives and strong frustration. Some show the will to understand and do something about their lives, while others have given up. Deeply tragic and melancholy aspects are mixed with humour and rather frivolous solutions.

Jayson Blair is the most infamous serial plagiarist of our time. He unleashed the massive scandal that rocked the New York Times and the entire world of journalism.

A young garage band in Sydney, is trying to make it big in Australia.

On a dig in the remote Jordanian desert, maverick archaeologist Victoria Carter (Anna Friel) discovers an ancient scroll buried in the ruins of an old temple. It is encrypted with the location of the long lost Seal of Solomon, which, according to legend, was given to King Solomon by God himself. But this mighty treasure is also being sought by, amongst others, Victoria’s estranged father, renowned archaeologist Teddy Carter, who’s soon hot on its trail.

A troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways.

A University teacher finds three bright students and decides to teach them how to count cards to make lots of money. As they learn how to play the casinos, things get tricky when the debt owing teacher informs them that their front man wants restitution for loses in about a weeks time. The three students decide to hit all the major casinos in Ontario and Quebec until discovered.

Based on a true story, during World War II, four Jewish brothers escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of West Belarus in Poland and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis. The brothers begin the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews still trapped in the ghettos of Poland.

Mr. Kim is jobless, lost in debt and has been dumped by his girlfriend. He decides to end it all by jumping into the Han River - only to find himself washed up on a small, mid-river island. He soon abandons thoughts of suicide or rescue and begins a new life as a castaway. His antics catch the attention of a young woman whose apartment overlooks the river. Her discovery changes both their lives.

To a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. From the melting clocks and hourglass sand, to the figure rendered in strips, to the character covered in eyeballs, the style and themes of Dalí are clearly recognizable throughout. Destino is an animated short film released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company. Destino is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Dominguez and performed by Dora Luz. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2003.

Ten humans on planet XT-59 paving the way trough swamp to reach Islands of Happiness.

A young girl is raised in a dysfunctional family constantly on the run from the FBI. Living in poverty, she comes of age guided by her drunkard, ingenious father who distracts her with magical stories to keep her mind off the family's dire state, and her selfish, nonconformist mother who has no intention of raising a family, along with her younger brother and sister, and her other older sister. Together, they fend for each other as they mature in an unorthodox journey that is their family life.

Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.