Film Reviews

The Bandit goes on another cross-country run, transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas. And, once again, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is on his tail.

This martial arts spectacular showcases 20-year-old Erh Tung-sheng (a.k.a. Derek Yee). Even Variety noted: "Erh's charismatic screen presence should take him to superstardom like his older brother, David Chiang." The prediction proved correct, and his performance as ace swordsman Third Master is just what any producer would want. He fights evil, saves damsels in distress (including a kindhearted prostitute played by Chow Yun-fat's first wife, Yu An-an), and duels rival swordsmen to the, well, death.

Separated identical twins ride an Orient Express unaware of each other: a feminist anarchist and a hedonistic courtesan, living under the powder-keg Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Separate families adopted the impoverished orphans. At the dawn of the 20th Century the double-blind experiment hits crescendo for Dora & Lili, born the evening Edison unveiled his incandescent bulb. In 1900, technology was accelerating, could women's rights and national self-determination keep pace?

A feature-length documentary starring Fran Lebowitz, a writer known for her unique take on modern life. The film weaves together extemporaneous monologues with archival footage and the effect is a portrait of Fran's worldview and experiences.

A model (Yoko Shiraki) must cope with the stress of fame after a marketing executive (Yoshio Harada) transforms her into a sports celebrity.

Four astronauts in 1960 travel to a planet called Nova that has just entered Earth's solar system. The crew begins to study the planet to see if it's able to withstand a possible Earth colony. After first discovering normal Earth animals such as a kinkajou and an alligator, they soon encounter and battle giant insects, an enormous snake, prehistoric mammals, dinosaurs, and the titular character, King Dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Eventually, the scientists blow up the planet with an atomic bomb, killing all of its inhabitants.

The phone rings, startling Tomas, who is seated in front of the computer. He feels for the telephone receiver. Tomas is blind. His girlfriend, Francine, tells him that it's all over and she's leaving him. The phone drops back onto the hook. Tomas' mind races back in a dizzying flurry of images to the moment they both met, to the couple's most intimate moments together and to the tiny careless mistakes that eventually lead to the end of their relationship. TRUE is part of a compilation project entitled PARIS, JE T'AIME, in which a number of internationally renowned directors each tell a story in one of Paris' 20 arrondissements.

A working-class boy struggles to find himself through a series of jobs and romances.

From the masters who create the mind-bending diversions to the tense competition at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Patrick Creadon's documentary reveals a fascinating look at a decidedly addictive pastime. Creadon captures New York Times editor Will Shortz at work, talks to celebrity solvers -- including Bill Clinton and Ken Burns -- and presents an intimate look at the national tournament and its competitors.

Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.

Rudy, an American of Hispanic descent, whose south-of-the-border looks show him no mercy during an immigration raid in a migrant worker factory. As his luck goes, he is caught with neither money nor his ID and is deported to Mexico - without speaking a word of Spanish!

Eccentric Cambridge archaeologist Horatio Smith (Howard) takes a group of British and American archaeology students to pre-war Nazi Germany to help in his excavations. His research is supported by the Nazis, since he professes to be looking for evidence of the Aryan origins of German civilisation. However, he has a secret agenda: to free inmates of the concentration camps.

Doris Day and Howard Keel fuss, feud and fall in love as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. At first curvaceous Calamity is too durned busy fighting Indians and cracking a bullwhip to pay mind to such girlie what-alls as dresses and perfume. She soon changes her mind when Katie Brown arrives in town.

A frustrated stay-at-home mom takes a weekend away when her family ignores her over Mother's Day.

Isabel and Clara are growing up in a time of terror. It is 1492, and Spain has decreed that all Jews must either convert to Catholicism, go into exile or face trial and execution. Although forcibly baptized, the sisters are chased through Christendom until they arrive in Venice. It is in this great maritime empire, where opulence rhymes with tolerance, that Isabel organizes secret passages for refugees fleeing the Inquisition while Clara falls in love with a Venetian noble, Paolo Zane. Isabel intends for her family to go to Istanbul, the only place where Jews can live freely, but Clara is reluctant to leave. She challenges Isabel's authority and is prepared to break her family ties and sacrifice her faith for love. Caught in this battle of wills is Clara's daughter, Victoria, who finds she is about to be married into the same faith that murdered her father.