Film Reviews

The word Taqwacore is a combination of hardcore, a genre of punk music, and taqwa, an Arabic word that translates as "piety" or "god-fearing." The first to use the term was writer, journalist, and Muslim convert Michael Muhammad Knight. His novel The Taqwacores, about a group of young Islamic punk rockers, received a storm of recognition among young American Muslims and prompted the formation of various Muslim punk bands. Written by International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

A teenage girl helps investigators reconstruct her mother's (Isabelle Renauld) murder.

A grieving upper class woman becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank prison, hoping to escape her troubles and be a guiding figure in the lives of the female prisoners. Of all her friendships with prisoners, she is most fascinated by Selina - a medium. Set in the 1870s.

A sensitive guy finds out he's... a robot.

28-year-old Kansas University doctoral student Omar Razaghi wins a grant to write a biography of Latin American writer Jules Gund. Omar must get through to three people who were close to Gund--his brother, widow, and younger mistress--so he can get authorization to write the biography. Written by Marisa_Gabriella, edited by Krystal Frauendienst

After two archaeologists discover an ancient alien artifact in Africa, they must run for their lives from both the unstoppable guardian and protector that awakens as a result, and their greedy, madman employer, both of whom want the artifact.

A woman reeling from the death of her parents becomes attached to an alluring man whose sudden disappearance sends her and her friends into a haunted high-rise to find him.

Thad Beaumont is the author of a highly successful series of violent pulp thrillers written under the pseudonym of ‘George Stark’, but when he decides to ‘kill-off’ his alter-ego in a mock ceremony, it precipitates a string of sadistic murders matching those in his pulp novels, which are soon discovered to be the work of Stark himself. Looking like a maniacal version of his counterpart, Stark is not so willing to quit the writing game – even if it means coming after Thad's wife and their baby.

Unsuspecting Mr. Dietrichson becomes increasingly accident prone after his icily calculating wife encourages him to sign a double indemnity policy proposed by a smooth-talking insurance agent. Against a backdrop of distinctly California settings, the partners in crime plan the perfect murder to collect the insurance. Perfect until a claims manager gets a familiar feeling of foul play and pursues the matter relentlessly.

A look at post-9/11 America by the Danish documentarian.

A crime movie directed by Marvin Kren.

The R of the title stands for the young protagonist, Rune, fearlessly played by Pilou Asbæk. Imprisoned for violent assault, he's a cocky, good-looking young man placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations. R also stands for Rachid, a young Muslim prisoner who becomes Rune's friend and accomplice, defying the rigid racial stratifications among the inmates.

A brother, Earland Josephson, returns to his family home to visit his sister in the Italian countryside. He brings with him his young male lover. In the house with the sister are two women, one of whom, Mariangela Melato, takes care of the farm. The two women are friends and lovers since childhood and one senses that Melato's relationship is shadowed by the relationship she had with her mother shown through wonderful flashbacks. The brother also has wonderful memories of his and his sister's childhood in that same house with their father who was a magician. Following a night out at a lovely restaurant in the woods, other memories of the past are aroused in the Brother. The next day they all plan to drive to Venice where his sister sang opera in her youth for a holiday. Fate intervenes.

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

The two lovers are living together and are not married as they hesitantly explain to her brother. They had made a promise as children to get married when they grew up, but they "didn't wait." It's an important plot point as it drives Cooper's actions when he discovers that Crawford and Young are living in sin.