Film Reviews

One of Chris Marker's earliest documentaries (1957) and probably one of his best, the hour-long Letter From Siberia mixes new and found footage with inventive commentary, and is especially memorable for a passage in which footage is repeated while the offscreen commentary transforms its meaning with a different ideological interpretation. It is perhaps the earliest example we have of Marker's inimitable essayistic manner, hence an indispensable work.

1989 is an important year in the political history of Hungary. However, Petya and his friends couldn't care less. They are about to graduate high school. The only important things to them are the parties, girls, making some easy cash. And of course, passing the upcoming exam with the leaked questions.

Two friends, who both work for the same high-priced, high-powered law firm, are both married to modern day witches. Erica, the wife of Larry, believes that he is being led astray by Carol, an old flame, who also works for the same law firm. Erica decides to act and one night after a torrid sex session Larry drifts off to sleep and begins to dream. Soon the dream turns into a nightmare of sex, violence, murder and death involving himself, his friends and colleagues from the law firm which appears to be frighteningly realistic...

Average Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy, is caught up in an odd fight for justice. She is usually followed and harrased around by local boys, who, one day, decide to trash her brother's scooter for fun. The boys' father refuses to pay them back the price of the scooter. The fight for "fair is fair" takes the teens around the state and produces an unlikely hero.

This documentary, aired on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network, looks at the life and career of John Garfield, whose career was cut short when he died at age 39. His difficult childhood in the rough neighborhoods of New York City provided the perfect background for the tough-guy roles he would play on both stage and screen.

A Jewish boy grows up in 1920s Montreal with a grandfather who tells stories and a father who won't work.

Starsuckers is the most controversial documentary of the year, and was released in British cinemas in November 2009 to critical acclaim. It's a darkly humourous and shocking exposé of the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.

A nurse recovering in a hospital from a nervous breakdown keeps having dreams where she sees two men trying to murder a third. When she meets the the officer in charge of psychology at the hospital, she is astounded to discover that he is the man in her dream who is the intended murder victim.

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

An introverted man runs a "car cemetery" where people come to find parts for old vehicles.

A feisty five-year-old girl Lotta decides to move away from home. And no, she doesn't want to put on the stupid sweater.

Theatrical release in 1938. A 15-episode serial starring Buster Crabbe.

Canada 1931: The unsociable trapper Johnson lives for himself in the ice-cold mountains near the Yukon river. During a visit in the town he witnesses a dog-fight. He interrupts the game and buys one of the dogs - almost dead already - for $200 against the owner's will. When the owner Hasel complains to Mountie Sergeant Millen, he refuses to take action. But then the loathing breeder and his friends accuse Johnson of murder. So Millen, although sympathetic, has to try to take him under arrest - but Johnson defends his freedom in every way possible.

This tragic musical drama chronicles the star-crossed love between beloved French singer Edith Piaf and World Middleweight boxing champion Marcel Cerdan who died in a plane crash. The tumultuous affair is paralleled by the love affair of a French POW and his young pen pal who get engaged after writing to each other for four years and having never met. Their romances are framed by the sad, torchy songs of Piaf.

After tragedy strikes Henry and Penny, he befriends a tenacious young girl and discovers she is constructing a raft to sail across the Atlantic to find her lost father. Together, along with some unlikely friends, they set forth to construct the vessel and subsequently rebuild their lives.