Film Reviews

Eliza D'Amico thinks her marriage to Louis is going great, until she finds a mysterious love note to her husband. Concerned, she goes to her mother for advice. Eliza, her parents, her sister Jo and Jo's boyfriend all pile into a station wagon, to go to the city to confront Louis with the letter. On the way, the five explore their relations with each other, and meet many interesting people.

Longtime Companion follows the lives of a small circle of friends from the first mention of the disease in the New York Times in 1981. First referred to as "Gay-Related-Immune-Disorder," we watch the effect of the disease as it devastates the lives of our protagonists. Jumping between Manhattan and Fire Island, vignettes carry us from the it-couldn't-happen-to-me mentality of the early days of the disease to the invasive effect it has had on all of our lives, today. The title of the film comes from the New York Times' refusal to acknowledge homosexual relationships in their obituary section during this period. Instead, survivors were referred to as "Longtime Companions" of the deceased

After a traumatic ordeal, acclaimed actress Emily Moore and her psychiatrist husband, Robert, escape on a relaxing vacation to a gorgeous remote Mediterranean island. But on the first night at the house, a young girl arrives, blood on her hands and hysterical from the death of her boyfriend in a hiking accident. Robert offers to take in and help the young girl, but her suggestive behavior makes Emily wonder if she might be a threat to their marriage... or her life.

In the 19th century, the Prince Regent of the Qing Dynasty orders the mass execution of the entire Meng clan. Before his beheading, the leader vows that his family will avenge this travesty of justice. Awaiting his death, a five-year-old Meng boy named Erkui bravely sings an aria. The power and purity of his voice touches the opera star Master Yu and his seven-year-old pupil Guan Yilong. Master Yu rescues the boy and the two orphans become brothers. Years later, Master Yu wins the coveted golden "The Mightiest Warrior" plaque from the Prince Regent, but subsequently loses it in a duel with his archrival Master Yue. Banished from the stage upon his loss, Master Yu spends his time training the two brothers in the village. When the boys grow into men, they set off for Shanghai to pursue revenge. Once they reach Shanghai, they quickly defeat Master Yue, reclaiming not only the plaque but also taking over the Yue's opera troupe.

A radical hybrid of spy, sci-fi, Western, and even horror genres, Craig Baldwin's Mock Up On Mu cobbles together a feature-length "collage-narrative" based on (mostly) true stories of California's post-War sub-cultures of rocket pioneers, alternative religions, and Beat lifestyles. Pulp-serial snippets, industrial-film imagery, and B- (and Z-) fiction clips are intercut with newly shot live-action material, powering a playful, allegorical trajectory through the now-mythic occult matrix of Jack Parsons (Crowleyite founder of the Jet Propulsion Lab), L.Ron Hubbard (sci-fi author turned cult-leader), and Marjorie Cameron (bohemian artist and "mother of the New Age movement"). Their intertwined tales spin out into a speculative farce on the militarization of space, and the corporate take-over of spiritual fulfillment and leisure-time.

Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.

A wealthy man falls for a widow but is locked into a loveless marriage with a woman who has contrived to convince his parents she is the ideal wife.

Cops try to track down the infamous "Lawnmower Killer"

A feudal village in Southeastern Turkey in 1970's. A poor peasant, Feyzo returns from military service dreaming about getting married to Gülo, the love of his life.

Two guys at a college prep school make wagers on seducing naive young girls, and then meet their match when they agree to see which one can seduce the most popular and devious girl who has her own agenda to everything.

A former narcotics trafficker now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son, in this darkly elegant gangster drama.

One of the twins is a bus conductor and the other is handicapped. The elder one, Shiva, overhears his parents' plot to kill his mildly retarded brother, Vishnu. He runs away to another city, with his adorable brother, and strives hard to look after Vishnu. As a result of an incident when 'dada' Sundara Moorthy, who runs a beggar trade beats Vishnu brutally, Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Matters worsen when Sundara Moorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically handicapped. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva.

A heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her Hollywood starlet boss. As the assistant travels across Los Angeles to unravel the mystery, she must stay one step ahead of a determined policeman and confront her own understanding of friendship, truth and celebrity.

Pepe Benengeli is a second-class cyclist, only there to support the star member of the team. This summer he is participating in the Tour of Spain, which passes through the streets of his hometown of Andalusia. In a coincidence, his brother and ex-girlfriend are getting married on the same day as the climax of the race. Pepe, who left his hometown after suffering a breakdown, is determined to achieve something special on this day.

The only business in the Wild West town of Jericho that corrupt sheriff Alex Flood doesn't control behind the scenes is the stagecoach owned by tough-willed widow Molly Lang and her right-hand man, Hickman. Former marshal Dolan, recently hired by Lang and Hickman as a driver, wants to stay out of the mess, but when he sees Flood's henchman Yarbrough assault Lang, he steps up to fight the corruption.