Film Reviews

The masterful new documentary from Wang Bing (West of the Tracks) is an intimate, observational portrait of a peasant family who eke out a humble existence in a small village set against the stunning mountain landscapes of China's Yunnan province. (TIFF)

“Death is my Trade” centers on the life of Rudolph Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau for the majority of its existence. The main character's name in the film is Franz Lang. This name change was deliberate to ensure that the character is not automatically viewed as being some sort of villain or demon. Franz is an average German kid growing up during World War I. The film follows Franz as he grows up and becomes a hard, efficient, organized worker who eventually joins the National Socialist party in Germany. Impressionable young Franz takes orders as one of the utmost points of honor and duty, so when he is eventually asked by Heinrich Himmler to become commandant of the largest extermination camp built during WWII he barely hesitates to consider how heavy such a burden will be.

A young man can only get the woman he loves if he becomes famous and manages to get his picture in the newspapers. He determines to let nothing stand in the way of his doing exactly that, and in the process winds up getting involved with a gang of criminals and a locomotive chase.

Charlie returns to the East End after two years at sea to find his house demolished and wife Maggie gone. Everyone else knows she is now shacked up with married bus driver Bert and a toddler, and they all watch with more than a little interest at the trail of mayhem Charlie leaves as he goes about sorting things out.

A carpenter, who was executed in the electric chair, comes back to finish his dream house, now inhabited by a young married couple.

The best-selling videogame, Hitman, roars to life with both barrels blazing in this hardcore action-thriller starring Timothy Olyphant. A genetically engineered assassin with deadly aim, known only as "Agent 47" eliminates strategic targets for a top-secret organization. But when he's double-crossed, the hunter becomes the prey as 47 finds himself in a life-or-death game of international intrigue.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2005 Hamptons International Film Festival, Sweet Land is a poignant and lyrical celebration of land, love, and the American immigrant experience. Based on Will Weaver’s short story A Gravestone Made of Wheat and shot on location in Southern Minnesota.

A vampire relates his epic life story of love, betrayal, loneliness, and dark hunger to an over-curious reporter.

The film MISS REPRESENTATION exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.

PARAISO TRAVEL is the story of Marlon Cruz, a young Colombian man who, motivated by his girlfriend Reina leaves his comfortable life in Medellin and flees with her through Guatemala and Mexico, across the borders, illegally into the United States. Marlon's journey, which takes him through seedy strip clubs, dance halls, homeless hostels, ultimately takes him to a place he could have not predicted

What was suppose to be summer school in England becomes an adventurous exotic and romantic journey for a beautiful teenage girl. [from the Tai Seng Catalog] A nice story of a free-sprited (or, depending on your viewpoint, prick-teasing) young woman on a short journey of discovery.

Dracula and Renefield relocate to 70's era New York in search of Cindy Sondheim (the reincarnation of Dracula's one true love, Mina Harker). "Trouble adjusting" is a wild understatement for the Count as he battles Cindy's psychiatrist, Jeffrey Rosenberg (a descendant of Van Helsing who changed his name for professional reasons?), who may almost certainly, possibly, may be in love with Cindy too.

Captured Hearts, an insane serial killer/horror film, is a heart-jumping, heart-crushing - truly demented - roller coaster ride of mystery, violence, sex and gore. With a raging, climatic twist, all hearts end up in one place. And it's not where they're supposed to be.

A young woman moves with her mother to her mother's hometown and is haunted by the ghost of a dead teenager.

When Todd Anderson signs a $30 million deal with his hometown team, the New Jersey Nets, he knows that his life is set for a big change. To keep things real, he decides to throw a barbeque at his place -- just like the ones his family used to have. But when you have new and old friends, family, agents, and product reps in the same house, things are bound to get crazy.