Film Reviews

Abbott and Costello's version of the famous fairy tale, about a young boy who trades the family cow for magic beans.

For one year, Master Swordsman Eiji Shinjo has been haunted by the memory of his battle with the renegade champion, Gaia. A battle that was cut short by the forces of the malevolent syndicate known as "The Organization." Denied victory, Eiji left the tournament followed by his opponent's mocking laughter. Worse still, Eiji walked away no closer to finding his long lost brother, Sho. But now, a mysterious warrior is hunting down the champions of the previous tournament and using their own moves against them, and it looks like that person may be Sho. Who is this powerful, new foe and who be his next target? Eiji and Kayin, his closest friend and greatest rival, struggle to unravel the mystery before they too join the ranks of the defeated. The answer lies at the heart of The Organization and its plans for world domination. At last, the ultimate battle between the greatest fighters in the world will be decided. But if Eiji loses, his friend, Ellis, may Die...

After serving time in prison, former drug addict Sherry Swanson returns home to reclaim her young daughter from family members who have been raising the child. Sherry's family, especially her sister-in-law, doubt Sherry's ability to be a good mother, and Sherry finds her resolve to stay clean slowly weakening.

Kurz vor Weihnachten ist das einst erfolgreiche Fotomodell Valerie, 29, in ihrer Heimatstadt Berlin gestrandet. Zwar hat sie ein Zimmer im exklusiven Hyatt, aber eigentlich ist sie völlig pleite und ohne Perspektive. Valerie ist unfähig, sich auf die neue Situation einzustellen. Ihrer befreundeten Kollegin Isa lügt sie eitel Sonnenschein vor, und weder der Chefin ihrer Agentur noch ihrem reichen Gönner Isenberg offenbart sie iher existenzbedrohende Lage. Als Valerie ihr Hotelzimmer verlassen muss, hat sie nicht einmal mehr das Geld, um die Gebühren der Tiefgarage zu bezahlen. Valerie landet Heiligabend in einer einfachen Bar, in der sie die etwas heruntergekommene 40-jährige Charlotte kennenlernt. Völlig betrunken findet sie ihren Wagen in der Tiefgarage nicht mehr. Der junge Tiefgaragenwärter André hilft ihr.

In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.

After watching a documentary about the suffering of women forced into prostitution during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Markova decides to tell his own painful story to reporter Loren Legarda. Escaping the torment of growing up with an abusive older brother, he and his friends found further suffering at the hands of Japanese soldiers, forced into sex work to survive. But even after the war, Markova's struggle continued.

A grieving widower is drawn into a custody battle over his granddaughter, whom he helped raise her entire life.

Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird is an insightful profile of the legendary cartoonist. For over fifty years, Gahan Wilson has been known for his ghoulish, twisted visions that combine horrific elements with comedy, as well as political and ecological cartoons. His cartoons have appeared in Playboy Magazine, The New Yorker, National Lampoon, The New York Times, Colliers, and Look. Wilson sees monsters and irony in ordinary, everyday situations and turns them into explosive cartoons. The documentary takes an intimate look at Wilson's bizarre and personal inspirations, the inner workings of the cartoon world, and how his quirky creations have profoundly affected legions of fans, including some surprising celebrities.

With marriage, graduation, and the real world looming on the horizon, fifth year senior Caleb Fuller reassembles the ol' team of misfits for one last epic run in Intramural football.

Zheng Zhou is the most feared warrior from the Shaolin Dynasty in China. His fighting and weapons skills are legendary. But when his parents are killed and sister kidnapped, he turns to a life of drugs and crime that will almost kill him. With the help of Hong Kong's notorious Dragon Triad syndicate, Colombia's biggest drugs cartel hatches an elaborate plan to traffic two tonnes of crack cocaine through the Port of Miami in America and ultimately into Australia and China. But when the partnership turns sour after the Cartel holds a Triad family member hostage, the Triads recruit Zhou to rescue the girl and kill the Colombians. What ensues is a bloodied street war across three countries. Zhou turns international Hitman with an arsenal of hi-tech surveillance devices, explosives, high powered weaponry and an array of fighting skills dating back fifteen hundred years. But just as Zhou rescues the hostage and takes control of the entire drugs shipment...

Nebbishy filmmaker Joanna Arnow documents her yearlong relationship with racially charged poet-provocateur James Kepple. What starts out as an uncomfortably intimate portrait of a dysfunctional relationship and protracted mid-twenties adolescence, quickly turns into a complex commentary on societal repression, sexuality and self-confrontation through art.

Budapest International Chess Tournament. The most likely winner: Cal Fournier (22), French champion, immature genius, socially awkward, compulsive player. But this time, an unusual 9-years-old Hungarian opponent disrupts this smooth-running routine.

Koch Brothers Exposed is a hard-hitting investigation of the 1% at its very worst. This full-length documentary film on Charles and David Koch—two of the world’s richest and most powerful men—is the latest from acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, Rethink Afghanistan). The billionaire brothers bankroll a vast network of organizations that work to undermine the interests of the 99% on issues ranging from Social Security to the environment to civil rights. This film uncovers the Kochs’ corruption—and points the way to how Americans can reclaim their democracy.

What happens when America's most joyous, dysfunctional city rebuilds itself after a disaster? New Orleans is the setting for Getting Back to Abnormal, a film that serves up a provocative mix of race, corruption and politics to tell the story of the re-election campaign of Stacy Head, a white woman in a city council seat traditionally held by a black representative. Supported by her irrepressible African-American aide Barbara Lacen-Keller, Head polarizes the city as her candidacy threatens to diminish the power and influence of its black citizens. Featuring a cast of characters as colorful as the city itself, the film presents a New Orleans that outsiders rarely see.

Ryan and Jennifer are opposites who definitely do not attract. At least that's what they always believed. When they met as twelve-year-olds, they disliked one another. When they met again as teenagers, they loathed each other. But when they meet in college, the uptight Ryan and the free-spirited Jennifer find that their differences bind them together and a rare friendship develops.