Film Reviews · Backpex

Title	Overview
William & Kate	William & Kate is the first of two unrelated American television films about the relationship between Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton (now The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge), directed by Mark Rosman and written by Nancey Silvers. The film was a ratings success, despite the negative reception from critics. The second film William & Catherine: A Royal Romance was produced by a different company and released in August 2011.
Mo Mandel: Negative Reinforcement	Mo Mandel takes the stage in his first hour-long special at the Gothic Theater in Denver. He loves Julio Iglesias, hates positive people, and aims his frenetic laser at everything from the sins of his parents, to the perils of sex, to the dark nature of his own disastrous mind.
Hunk	A "devilish" tale about an ordinary guy who is visited by a beautiful apparition promising him popularity and drop-dead good looks in exchange for his soul. Transformed overnight into a "hunk," he soon discovers there may be hell to pay for his new lifestyle!
Gatekeeper	A retired police detective dedicates his life to preventing deaths at Japan’s suicide cliffs, providing emergency assistance and counseling even as tourists flock to the site, attracted by its notoriety as a popular suicide destination.
Switching Goals	Twin sisters Emma and Sam come up with a scheme to switch places so each can play in the soccer team they prefer.
The Passion of Joan of Arc	A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
Bananas	When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.
Running with Scissors	Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.
Wolf Hall	England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impass steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
Friends with Benefits	Jamie is a New York-based executive recruiter who entices Dylan, an art director from Los Angeles, to take a job at the New York office of GQ magazine. Finding that they have much in common, the two become fast friends. Feeling jaded by a number of broken romances, Dylan and Jamie decide that they are ready to quit looking for true love and focus on having fun. However, complications unfold when the two best pals add sex to their relationship.
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow	Everyone abuses and humiliates a downtrodden orphan (Chan) until he befriends an old man, who turns out to be the last master of the "snake fist" fighting style. Jackie becomes the old man's student and finds himself in battle with the master of the "eagle's claw" style, who has vowed to destroy the snake fist clan.
Grand Hotel	A pompous, aging alcoholic and a tourettes-inflicted ten-year-old boy are forced to spend a week together at a high-end hotel. The only thing these two have in common is that they are both difficult to like. The hotel serves as their shared escape from the outside world and the problems it presents.
Tiresia	Based on the legend of Tiresias, it tells of a transsexual who is kidnapped by a man and left to die in the woods. She is then saved by a family and receives the gift of telling the future.
Overnight	Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.
Together	Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, and goes to live with her brother, Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune Elisabeth learns that the world can be viewed from different perspectives.

William & Kate

William & Kate is the first of two unrelated American television films about the relationship between Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton (now The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge), directed by Mark Rosman and written by Nancey Silvers. The film was a ratings success, despite the negative reception from critics. The second film William & Catherine: A Royal Romance was produced by a different company and released in August 2011.

Mo Mandel: Negative Reinforcement

Mo Mandel takes the stage in his first hour-long special at the Gothic Theater in Denver. He loves Julio Iglesias, hates positive people, and aims his frenetic laser at everything from the sins of his parents, to the perils of sex, to the dark nature of his own disastrous mind.

Hunk

A "devilish" tale about an ordinary guy who is visited by a beautiful apparition promising him popularity and drop-dead good looks in exchange for his soul. Transformed overnight into a "hunk," he soon discovers there may be hell to pay for his new lifestyle!

Gatekeeper

A retired police detective dedicates his life to preventing deaths at Japan’s suicide cliffs, providing emergency assistance and counseling even as tourists flock to the site, attracted by its notoriety as a popular suicide destination.

Switching Goals

Twin sisters Emma and Sam come up with a scheme to switch places so each can play in the soccer team they prefer.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.

Bananas

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.

Running with Scissors

Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.

Wolf Hall

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impass steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Friends with Benefits

Jamie is a New York-based executive recruiter who entices Dylan, an art director from Los Angeles, to take a job at the New York office of GQ magazine. Finding that they have much in common, the two become fast friends. Feeling jaded by a number of broken romances, Dylan and Jamie decide that they are ready to quit looking for true love and focus on having fun. However, complications unfold when the two best pals add sex to their relationship.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

Everyone abuses and humiliates a downtrodden orphan (Chan) until he befriends an old man, who turns out to be the last master of the "snake fist" fighting style. Jackie becomes the old man's student and finds himself in battle with the master of the "eagle's claw" style, who has vowed to destroy the snake fist clan.

Grand Hotel

A pompous, aging alcoholic and a tourettes-inflicted ten-year-old boy are forced to spend a week together at a high-end hotel. The only thing these two have in common is that they are both difficult to like. The hotel serves as their shared escape from the outside world and the problems it presents.

Tiresia

Based on the legend of Tiresias, it tells of a transsexual who is kidnapped by a man and left to die in the woods. She is then saved by a family and receives the gift of telling the future.

Overnight

Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.

Together

Elisabeth leaves her abusive and drunken husband Rolf, and goes to live with her brother, Göran. The year is 1975 and Göran lives in a commune called Together. Living in this leftist commune Elisabeth learns that the world can be viewed from different perspectives.