Film Reviews

The complex and beautiful hieroglyphic script of the ancient Maya was until recently one of the last great undeciphered writing systems. Based on the best-selling book by Michael Coe, called by the New York Times "one of the great stories of 20th century scientific discovery", Breaking the Maya Code traces the epic quest to unlock the secrets of the script across 200 years, nine countries and three continents.

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.

A director struggles with a difficult sex scene between a young actor and actress who can't stand one another. Aided by her loyal assistant, she is hell-bent on getting the scene right without compromise.

Central London, today; Dee is an anarchic street-artist confronting the system, Marcus is an armed robber on a jewellery store crime-wave. For the two brothers, being Anti-Social is a way of life.

Wong Fei Hung (Gordon Liu) and his friend are constantly having contests to see who has the better martial arts skill. After getting in trouble with their fathers, Wong Fei Hung settles down and starts to train seriously, while his friend still horses around. After his friend is hurt by a rival school, Wong goes to the school for retribution. Instead his skill is tested through a series of events which climax with him taking on a Northern martial artist (Wang Lung Wei). In an excellent battle of skill (and choreography), he earns the respect of the rival school. Also stars Mai Te Lo and Hui Ying Hung.

In a post-apocalyptic future mankind is lives in a prehistoric manner. After killing his father for sexually assaulting his girlfriend, the son of a tribal leader runs away with a group of his teenage friends. They are taken in by Neil and Judith who introduce them to the vices outlawed by their tribes namely sex and drugs.Neil and Judith, however, are genetically altered indestructible mutants who have their own plans for the future of the human race.

Struggling with his true emotions, dreams, memories of the past and the reality Shizuo is about to marry, but is torn between his wife-to-be and the love to his mother.

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Seven of today's top scientist/researchers are the subject of this humourous exploration of real people behind the white lab coats; more about what makes the tick than what they have per-se accomplished. Chosen because the subjects are the very best in their particular fields, featured are Gertrude Elion, Ashok Gadgil, Michio Kaku, Maja Materic, Steven Pinker, Karol Sikora and Patricia C. Wright. Written by Len Massaar

Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi prison which has held him since the crime. The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide...

Molly, former baby prostitute "Angel" from Sunset Boulevard, has managed to leave her street life with help of Lt. Andrews. She studies law at an university and aims to become attorney. When she learns that Andrews was shot during a failed observation by brutal gangsters, she returns downtown to take revenge

Karate action and laughs never cease when a brother and sister go to California to visit their uncle. They soon discover that he's an alcoholic on the run from the Mob who want him to pay up or else...

It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17. For the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem - there seems to be a security leak. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious: J.J. Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have. Sefton denies giving the Germans any information and makes it quite clear that he has no intention of ever trying to escape. He plans to ride out the war in what little comfort he can arrange, but it doesn't extend to spying for the Germans.

A close look at two-sport athlete Bo Jackson and the creation of a legend. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo will forever be known as a cultural icon and one of the most famous athletes of all time. This film will examine the truths and tall tales that surround Jackson, and how his seemingly impossible feats captured our collective imagination for an all-too-brief moment in time.

In March of 1701, Asano, a young provincial lord invited to attend formal ceremonies at the Shogun’s castle, receives special instructions in etiquette for the occasion, but neglects to pay the customary gratuity to his instructor, Kira. Kira insults Asano publicly for the slight, prompting the outraged Asano to draw his sward against the older man within the castle, a capital offense. Asano is then forced to commit seppuku and his fief is confiscated, his retainers dispersed. Twenty-one months later, after making elaborate plans, forty-seven of Asano’s loyal retainers attack Kira’s mansion on a snowy night and take their revenge. Though their vendetta was criminal, the forty-seven attract the sympathies of the public and government alike and are allowed the privilege of dying honourably at their own hands.