Film Reviews

A former rodeo champ befriends a young man with a propensity for violence.

Belfast 1972: The politically naive Bernie is trying to bring up a normal family in less than normal surroundings. Her best friend is accidentally shot dead by the IRA, and her neighbours are constantly raided by the army. In this climate of fear she stands up and condemns the murders. Criticising both factions, her call for a ceasefire is interpreted as an attack against the IRA, and as her peace movement takes momentum, she and her family are placed in the frontline.

A German student, Stefan, who has finished his studies, then decides to have an adventure. After hitch-hiking to Paris, he commits crimes to get money. He then meets a free-spirited American girl, Estelle, who he follows to Ibiza, and then begins a sad & dark path into heroin addiction. Barbet Schroeder's first film, it is also notable for its soundtrack, which was composed by the band Pink Floyd, who he would also use in his next film, La Vallée.

Bi-polar mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective, is recruited to close the case.

Pat Riley, an obnoxious busybody of indeterminable sex, meets and falls in love with Chris, a sensitive, caring person also of indeterminable sex. Their relationship suffers because Pat's a lout, and cannot decide on a direction for its life. Meanwhile, Pat's neighbor Kyle falls further and further into obsession with Pat, fascinated by its indeterminate sexuality.

A young boy plants some strange seeds and they grow into a grandmother.

During his 50th birthday party thrown by his wife, Remco's life takes a turn for the worse. His business partners are scheming behind his back to sell him and his former mistress shows up pregnant.

After nearly running over him with her cab, Patty Mitchell picks up a fare who claims to have amnesia. As he fumbles to remember the basic facts of his identity, Patty becomes interested in the stranger and decides to help him in his search. But as the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, and Patty's interest becomes more personal, the stranger finds that he is the prime suspect in a murder case.

Local councillor Sidney Fiddler persuades the Mayor to help improve the image of their rundown seaside town by holding a beauty contest. But formidable Councillor Prodworthy, head of the local women's liberation movement, has other ideas. It's open warfare as the women's lib attempt to sabotage the contest.

With the help of their high school's newest teacher, four Hispanic students form a robotics club. Although they have no experience, the youths set their sights on a national robotics contest. With $800 and parts scavenged from old cars, they build a robot and compete against reigning champion MIT. Along the way, the students learn not only how to build a robot but something far more important: how to forge bonds that will last a lifetime.

When a hostage situation arises on-board a private plane with the daughter of a billionaire on-board. Major John Masters (Sabato Jr.) teams up with Captain Williams (Michael Paré) to stop the terrorist and land the plane.

A drama steeped in Portugal's Fado music culture.

Wu Sung, a military swordmaster, is acused of murdering his adulterous sister-in-law and a thug, and sent to exile in Meng Chou. At the prison camp, Shih En, son of the camp commander, intercedes in his favour, to spare him the humiliating 100 bamboo lashes. When Wu Sung knows that a local thug, Chiang Chung, attacked and wounded Shih En to rob his wine cellar at the Delightful Forest, the military trainer decides to interfere. He defies the thug to a duel, in which he wins, at a cost - the thug is a drunkard who fights well, even when he has drunk too much! Later, after making sure Wu Sung has drunk too much, it's Chiang Chung who demands, and gets, his revenge. Chiang Chung moves political influences and treachery to provoke the downfall of the military instructor, again. Wu Sung returns from yet another exile, to get satisfaction

A low-ranking cop often relegated to desk duty, middle-aged Tsim Kin Yip (Simon Yam) lives a stable, mundane life with his young yoga instructor wife Ann (Annie Liu). The monotony is broken one day when he interrogates Kwan Ping Man (Nick Cheung), a nervous, profanity-spouting man caught spying in the women's bathroom. Kwan, who seems to have more than a few screws loose, confides to Tsim a shocking secret: a ring of women conspiring to murder men. Everyday, plans are whispered in restrooms and deaths are carefully engineered, so that men die unnoticeably from "accidents" that are anything but. Tsim initially dismisses Kwan's conspiracy theory, but then clues crop up suggesting there is something fishy at work. Both his marriage and life could be at stake as Tsim becomes increasingly obsessed with cracking the case.

At the suggestion of a friend, gay Leo (Kevin McKidd) enters therapy after many failed relationships make him fear for his social life. In a group session (led by Simon Callow), Leo comes clean about his feelings for a straight member of the group (James Purefoy), which leads to an affair between the two. The situation becomes further complicated by the appearance of Leo's high school sweetheart (Jennifer Ehle), who still has feelings for him.