Film Reviews · Backpex

Title	Overview		Toggle columns Title Overview
A Dangerous Profession	A cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation.
The Oblong Box	Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Occasionaly Sir Edward escapes and causes havoc around the town.
Sweet Charity	Taxi dancer Charity continues to have Faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and Hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Walker	A metaphor for mourning as much as it is a reminder to slow down, Tsai Ming-liang's stunningly beautiful Walker features his acteur fétiche Lee Kang-Sheng as a red-robed monk barely locomoting through the bustling streets of Hong Kong.
The Star Witness	A tough District Attorney (Walter Huston) goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.
The Founding of a Republic	The Founding of a Republic is a Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group (CFG) to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The film retells the tale of the Communist ascendancy and triumph.
Dead Again	In 1949 composer Roman Strauss is executed for the vicious murder of his wife Margaret with a pair of scissors. In 1990s Los Angeles a mute amnesiac woman shows up at an orphanage and private eye Mike Church is called in to investigate. Under hypnosis both the woman and Church seem to have a strange link back to the Strauss murder.
What Price Hollywood?	The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood producer. Sassy and ambitious waitress Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) amuses and befriends seldom-sober director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), who stumbles into her restaurant. Max invites Mary to his film première and, after a night of drinking and carousing, Mary charms her way into a screen test and then a contract with a movie studio. Just as Mary finds her dreams coming true and her career on the upswing, Cary’s life and career begins its descent.
Torch Song Trilogy	A very personal story that is both funny and poignant, TORCH SONG TRILOGY chronicles a New Yorker's search for love, respect and tradition in a world that seems not especially made for him.
Shopping	A dark, hip, urban story of a barren and anonymous city where the underclass' sport of choice is ram-raiding. An exciting game in which stolen cars are driven through shop windows to aid large-scale looting before the police arrive. For Tommy, it's a business, but for Billy and Jo, it's a labour of love. As the competition between Tommy and Billy grows more fierce, the stakes become higher and the "shopping" trips increasingly risky.
Elektra	Elektra the warrior survives a near-death experience, becomes an assassin-for-hire, and tries to protect her two latest targets, a single father and his young daughter, from a group of supernatural assassins.
Tonight It's You	CJ ventures out for a late night hook up when things take a dark turn, leading him into something much more sinister than he could ever imagine.
A Night to Remember	The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.
Chandu the Magician	When delusional madman Roxor kidnaps a scientist in hopes of using his death ray to achieve world dominance, he is opposed by Chandu, a powerful hypnotist and yogi.
Island	Based on 'Jane Rogers' acclaimed novel, "Island" is a tale of yearning and retribution. Abandoned at birth, Nikki Black has spent most of her life in care sustained only by fairy-stories. Incapable of love, fearful and desperate for revenge, she decides to find her birth mother, confront her, and bitter enough to consider murder. She travels incognito to a remote Hebridean island where Phyllis now lives as a recluse with Calum, her son.

A Dangerous Profession

A cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation.

The Oblong Box

Aristocrat Julian Markham keeps his disfigured brother, Sir Edward, locked in a tower of his house. Occasionaly Sir Edward escapes and causes havoc around the town.

Sweet Charity

Taxi dancer Charity continues to have Faith in the human race despite apparently endless disappointments at its hands, and Hope that she will finally meet the nice young man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.

Walker

A metaphor for mourning as much as it is a reminder to slow down, Tsai Ming-liang's stunningly beautiful Walker features his acteur fétiche Lee Kang-Sheng as a red-robed monk barely locomoting through the bustling streets of Hong Kong.

The Star Witness

A tough District Attorney (Walter Huston) goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.

The Founding of a Republic

The Founding of a Republic is a Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group (CFG) to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The film retells the tale of the Communist ascendancy and triumph.

Dead Again

In 1949 composer Roman Strauss is executed for the vicious murder of his wife Margaret with a pair of scissors. In 1990s Los Angeles a mute amnesiac woman shows up at an orphanage and private eye Mike Church is called in to investigate. Under hypnosis both the woman and Church seem to have a strange link back to the Strauss murder.

What Price Hollywood?

The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood producer. Sassy and ambitious waitress Mary Evans (Constance Bennett) amuses and befriends seldom-sober director Max Carey (Lowell Sherman), who stumbles into her restaurant. Max invites Mary to his film première and, after a night of drinking and carousing, Mary charms her way into a screen test and then a contract with a movie studio. Just as Mary finds her dreams coming true and her career on the upswing, Cary’s life and career begins its descent.

Torch Song Trilogy

A very personal story that is both funny and poignant, TORCH SONG TRILOGY chronicles a New Yorker's search for love, respect and tradition in a world that seems not especially made for him.

Shopping

A dark, hip, urban story of a barren and anonymous city where the underclass' sport of choice is ram-raiding. An exciting game in which stolen cars are driven through shop windows to aid large-scale looting before the police arrive. For Tommy, it's a business, but for Billy and Jo, it's a labour of love. As the competition between Tommy and Billy grows more fierce, the stakes become higher and the "shopping" trips increasingly risky.

Elektra

Elektra the warrior survives a near-death experience, becomes an assassin-for-hire, and tries to protect her two latest targets, a single father and his young daughter, from a group of supernatural assassins.

Tonight It's You

CJ ventures out for a late night hook up when things take a dark turn, leading him into something much more sinister than he could ever imagine.

A Night to Remember

The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.

Chandu the Magician

When delusional madman Roxor kidnaps a scientist in hopes of using his death ray to achieve world dominance, he is opposed by Chandu, a powerful hypnotist and yogi.

Island

Based on 'Jane Rogers' acclaimed novel, "Island" is a tale of yearning and retribution. Abandoned at birth, Nikki Black has spent most of her life in care sustained only by fairy-stories. Incapable of love, fearful and desperate for revenge, she decides to find her birth mother, confront her, and bitter enough to consider murder. She travels incognito to a remote Hebridean island where Phyllis now lives as a recluse with Calum, her son.