Film Reviews

A response to the failure of the American mass media to provide the public with relevant and accurate information about the standoff between the US and Iran, as happened before with the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. We have heard that Iran is a nuclear menace in defiance of the international community, bent on "wiping Israel off the map", supporting terrorism, and unwilling to negotiate. This documentary disputes these claims as they are presented to us and puts them in the context of present and historical US imperialism and hypocrisy with respect to Iran. It looks at the struggle for democracy inside Iran, the consequences of the current escalation and the potential US and/or Israeli attack, and suggests some alternatives to consider.

Taped in July before a live audience at the Showbox Theatre in Seattle, Cross pushes his brash humor to new extremes, offering uncensored remarks on the Virgin Mary, trendy advertising, violence in the media, airports and pornography, Dr. Kevorkian, organ donations, High Times magazine and religious fundamentalists.

Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

High school student tries to improve soccer skills by practicing dance and falls for his dance partner.

Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.

In the 16th century, the Jews of Prague face persecution. Rabbi Loew creates a giant golem out of clay, to protect the people. This film should not be confused with director Paul Wegener's with Henrik Galeen 1915 mostly lost film The Golem (Der Golem) which was his first film to explore the myth.

Ever since her mum died when she was fifteen, Maria has taken care of her father and her siblings. Responsible and in control, she's always been a rock for the family and feels proud of her efforts. That's why her father's sudden love for his nurse and the announcement of their marriage brings Maria's world crashing down around her. At the age of 35 and unable to find a steady partner, she'll have to take the plunge and dare to change her own fate.

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.

The beautiful Lauren gets married with an older man. She is unexpectedly confronted with her ex, an escaped criminal.

Despite being well into adulthood, brothers Doug and Steve Butabi still live at home and work in the flower shop owned by their dad. They exist only to hit on women at discos, though they're routinely unsuccessful until a chance run-in with Richard Grieco gets them inside the swank Roxbury club. Mistaken for high rollers, they meet their dream women, Vivica and Cambi, and resolve to open a club of their own.

This thriller investigates the mysterious assassination of a gay pastor in rural South Africa. Without witnesses or explanations, the crime appears to the police and others as a jigsaw puzzle without enough pieces. The police then suspect and arrest people based on the usual prejudices, black and coloured people who plant marijuana in this case. Meanwhile, the true assassin not only goes his way unpunished from the very beginning, but becomes one of the rural town's most respected citizens. The sheriff at one point does begin having certain suspicions, and from there on the bulk of the plot is played out. The location is a very arid part of South Africa, so with so much desert rock, there are bound to be quarries. Some may reveal important secrets.

A sleazy producer develops a concept he dubs "blood surfing" -- tossing bloody fish remains into the water to lure sharks and then surfing through the animals as they chomp about. Along with his camerawoman, the producer brings two thrill-seeking surfers to the coast of Florida to capture some gnarly footage. But, as they blood surf, they encounter something even more deadly: a colossal prehistoric crocodile intent on devouring them.

Master monologist Matt Smith turns his 8th grade year in 1966-67 into a wild coming-of-age film---a comedy grounded in his Catholic education, racism, and the joys and horrors that are male adolescence.

Documentary about the last four seasons on the farm run by the director's parents. The film starts on 1 January 1992, at 6 am and ends in a misty landscape at the end of that year. Het is een schone dag geweest (It's been a beautiful day) shows the end of a farm venture for which no successor has been found, but also the disappearance of a traditional way of life. Modern agriculture is ruled by new regulations, largely made in Brussels. Lonely work on a noisy machine replaces hard but communal work on the land. In a disciplined style, the film shows the disappearance of a traditional lifestyle in part of Holland. Het is een schone dag geweest was ïn 2007 admitted to the "Canon van de Nederlandse Film", a list of the most important Dutch films. (filmcommission.nl)

A common man tries to fight terrorism by making anonymous calls to cops. Will he succeed ?