Film Reviews

Filmed in 1971 under the title The Widower, Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing finally reached the screen in 1973. Set in Spain, the film stars Timothy Bottoms as the aimless son of doctor Charles Baxter. While bicycling through the Spanish countryside, Charles makes the acquaintance of much-older Lila (Maggie Smith.) He falls in love with her, but she is resistant. Eventually touched by Charles' clumsy sincerity, Lila invites him to bed. The film then wanders into Love Story territory when Lila is afflicted by a terminal illness. Director Alan J. Pakula completed Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing during the "cooling off" period between his more famous Klute (1971) and The Parallax View (1974).

A comedy centered on eight men in their 40s, all with identity crises.

In the 1910s, beautiful young Silja loses both parents and ends up working as a maid at wealthier farms around her village. She is courted by a number of bachelors, ranging from simple farmhand Väinö to sophisticated young student Armas whom she meets when working for a charming old professor. However, Silja's health starts to deteriorate, and when the Finnish Civil War breaks up in 1918, she is inadvertently involved in a small incident after which her loyalties are questioned by both the Reds and the Whites.

It is just another evening commute until the rain starts to fall, and the city comes alive to the sound of dripping rain pipes, whistling awnings and gurgling gutters.

In this fast-paced, noirish road movie, a computer expert embezzles half a million dollars and races off to Reno to start anew. Unfortunately, en route, he picks up a pair of hitchers and ends up entangled with a crazed couple who commandeer his car and leave him alone in the desert to die. As soon as he can, he hits the road to get revenge and to find his money before they do.

Estranged twin brothers - one a con man, the other an Episcopal deacon - accidentally switch places... and find God in the process.

Well respected Pompeiian Glaucus performs an act of kindness by buying Nidia, a blind slave being mistreated by her owner. Nidia falls in love with her new master, but he only has eyes for Jone. Jone in turn is lusted after by Arbace, an Egyptian high priest of Isis. When Nidia beseeches Isis for help in capturing Glaucus' heart, Arbace gives her a "love" potion, which really will affect his mind and not his heart, thus opening the way to Jone for himself. When Arbace's disciple is murdered Glaucus finds himself in hot water, shortly after which Mt. Vesuvius erupts.

A Finnish dramedy about an 11-year-old boy dealing with the loss of his parents.

In mid-1990s America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban Washington as he strives to become something he can never be – black.

Every celebrity deals with his or her share of obsessed fans. "I Think We're Alone Now" is a documentary that focuses on two individuals, Jeff and Kelly, who claim to be in love with the 80's pop singer Tiffany. Jeff Turner, a 50-year-old man from Santa Cruz, California has attended Tiffany concerts since 1988. Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, he never had a girlfriend. Jeff spends his days hanging out on the streets of Santa Cruz, striking up conversations with anyone who has a moment to spare. Kelly McCormick is a 38-year-old hermaphrodite from Denver, Colorado, who claims to have been friends with Tiffany as a teenager. She credits Tiffany as the shining star who has motivated her to do everything in her life. Both Jeff and Kelly have been labeled stalkers by the media and other Tiffany fans. This film takes you inside the lonely lives these two characters, revealing the source of their clinging obsessions...

In France, the disturbed and mysterious Alexandre Demarre is hired as security guard for the Vigilante armored truck company earning 1,200 euros per month and lodges in a hotel nearby the company for 1,450 euros for a month. He becomes close to his colleagues, actually a group of losers, without motivation or perspective, paranoids, depressed and substances addicted men, and prepares a personal file with the profile of each one. Along the days, the real intentions of Alex in working at Vigilante are disclosed.

A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

The film is a French-Spanish production and most of the dialog is in French. 'Lo que se de Lola' - in English 'What I know about Lola' - is about a lonely guy, living an uneventful life in Paris. He takes care of his mother. One day, a girl with a more exciting life moves in his apartment building...

Pierre and Manon are poor. They make documentaries with nothing and they live by doing odd jobs. Pierre meets a young intern, Elisabeth, and she becomes his mistress. But Pierre will not leave Manon for Elisabeth; he wants to keep both.

A camera crew follows a serial killer/thief around as he exercises his craft. He expounds on art, music, nature, society, and life as he offs mailmen, pensioners, and random people. Slowly he begins involving the camera crew in his activities, and they begin wondering if what they're doing is such a good idea, particularly when the killer kills a rival and the rival's brother sends a threatening letter.